Refrain From Dying
by PXLight
Summary: Just as the pinnacle of CR's life arrives, the Trauma Team is thrust under the fold of Derek and Angie as this new group bands together to save the world once more from the newest threat. But what if this 'threat' was the key to salvation? OC fic.
1. Freedom

**Disclaimer: **_Anything you recognise does not belong to me but to their respective owners._

A/N: Considering the closing to "Lost Hope" is literally right here in front of me and the fact that it is about to be posted VERY SOON, I've decided that I want to let out the coming of this fic a little earlier than I had been planning. I was going to post the beginning of this a bit after Spring Break, but my other fics are going at a good pace and I was hoping to accumulate a few OC's early on so I have more to work with when I begin writing more on the plot.

Anywho, if you were unaware of what a true OC fic is, I basically take OC's that you guys send to me and put them in the story! So feel free to review and send me your OC and I'll (most likely) use them! This fic was MADE to interact with everyone's unique ideas! But for now, I believe I should try and set up a plot first...

Gawd, I'm soo brain-dead today!  
Enjoy! =D

* * *

It was March 9, 2024 when it all happened.  
CR-S01 was to be let out of prison.  
Finally, the convict was proven innocent of committing all of those deaths in the Cumberland Incident.

He was finally going to be free.

"Th-thank you..." the once convicted prisoner stuttered out. He just couldn't believe that this was happening. For the longest time, he had been left in the dark; he had been constantly kept away from the truth. But now... finally someone had been able to bring to fruition what happened back in the Cumberland Incident and proved, through a legal trial, that he was innocent.

The surgeries and lives he helped save in Resurgam greatly helped to the cause as well.

"Not a problem." his defense attorney smiled lightly. "Besides, I could tell you were innocent." He glanced down to his arm where an odd piece of jewellery sat, but CR-S01 didn't seem to pick up on what the brown-haired lawyer was suggesting.

"That's enough, Mr. Justice."

CR-S01 looked back to find another man walk in. He was in a grey sweater and black pants. A bright blue beanie sat comfortably over his hair.

"There's no need to keep talking about the trial. That's all in the past now; what we should be talking about is where you are to go from here, my friend." He then looked to the red-eyed ex-convict, but all CR-S01 could do was blush meekly. He didn't know what to say.

"Oh c'mon, don't tell me you don't know what you're gonna do with your life!" The man in the hoodie gave the surgeon a large smack on the back, but with friendly intentions. CR-S01 stumbled forward, but he managed to catch himself. The man had a lot more strength despite his appearance. "I mean, considering how long you were stuck in that prison, it shouldn't come as a surprise that you've had time to think. You knew you were innocent, so you must've had a chance to ponder about what you were going to do with your life after prison."

"Well... I'll be honest. I never really thought about it. I always thought that I'd remain in prison for the remainder of my life." CR-S01 shook his head in disappointment, mainly on himself. "I'll probably continue to save lives back at Resurgam..."

"There you go!" The man exclaimed happily. "Glad to hear you have a future ahead of you." He placed his arm around the defense attorney; CR-S01 thought the two shared a father-son relationship, but from what he heard prior to the trial, the lawyer was the apprentice while the other was his mentor. They did manage to save him nonetheless, so they must be pretty good. The hobo-style attire of the mentor and the dramatic spiky-ness of his defense attorney's hair left CR-S01 with doubts, but over the course of the trial and especially now, those doubts disappeared into thin air.

"Mr. Wright, I think we should be going now." The lawyer glanced at the door of the defendant lobby to find a few people waiting patiently for his client. CR-S01 didn't seem to notice them. "It was nice meeting you, Dr... Actually, I never caught your name." The lawyer's mentor glared at him angrily and the spiky-haired lawyer raised his arms out in defeat. "Hey, we only were allowed to refer to him by his prisoner number." He looked back to CR-S01. "So? How about it? Do you have a name you can give us?"

"Well... I guess you can call me Dr. Muller." CR-S01 thought back to his past which he managed to recover recently and knew that this was right. "Erhardt Muller." This was the name his adoptive father, Albert Sarte, named him and he felt that it just sounded... real. "...But if you don't like it, CR is fine with me."

"So, Dr. Muller, is it now?"

CR-S01 looked back in surprise of the more feminine voice that did not seem to come from the two men before him and found that the visitors his lawyer had been referring to were the friends he had made back at Resurgam.

_Friends_...

Maria was the first to come around and slung her arm around the surgeon. "Well, well, what an interesting name that is. On the bright side, it's short, so it'll fit on a decent-sized nameplate unlike someone here who goes by the longest last name I've ever heard of." She glared at the green-haired diagnostician, who stepped into the scene followed by Tomoe, and Hank.

"So I don't have a right to get pissed off when I find that my nameplate was only big enough to fit 'Dr. Gabriel Cunning' on it?" Gabe rolled his eyes in annoyance of the thought, but then chuckled lightly at his sarcasm. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and held it between his index and middle finger. "Though I still wonder what kind of first impressions I would get when my patients come in and see a bad-ass name like that."

Ignoring the debate the two suddenly jumped in, Tomoe and Hank made their way to the three who had moved away slowly from the rowdy pair. Tomoe smiled softly at CR-S01.

"It's nice to know that you really are innocent." Tomoe chimed. "Though I always knew that it was never you... I just knew it."

"Thank you for unwavering confidence in me, then." CR-S01 replied. He looked to Hank who was rubbing his eyes. A single tear seemed to roll down the muscular man's cheek, but he caught it in time. It didn't take long for the hero to give up on preventing the tears from flowing down and locked the fellow surgeon in a massive hug.

"I'm... so proud of you, Doctor!" Hank exclaimed. "A saviour such as you could never have been behind all of those deaths!"

From the side, the man in the hoodie and his red-vested defense attorney apprentice smiled. The scene before them was very touching and knew that this would be an appropriate time to depart.

"We'll be heading back to LA now, I guess." the lawyer declared, though he could tell that the doctor could hardly hear him amidst the commotion.

"You're right; we shouldn't keep Trucy waiting." the other continued.

When the two finally began to walk away, CR-S01 broke free of Hank's grip and stopped them. "The two of you are leaving?" he asked. "Aren't you staying for a bit more? I mean... you two are the ones who got me free, after all?"

"No, that's incorrect." the man in the hoodie objected. "You're the one who was innocent the whole time, so you were the one who got yourself out of the mess you fell into; we were just the ones who shared this fact with the rest of the world. Right, Apollo?"

"Yeah." the lawyer replied. "Besides, this is your story. Just go and enjoy. Maybe get something to eat while you're at it; I mean, anything out here must be better than that crappy prison food."

"Hehe, true. Thank you again. What you did means a lot to me."

"No problem."

CR-S01 watched as the two men left and another three entered to replace their presence in the room. It was two women and one man in a wheelchair. One woman had long silver hair and her normal black and red clothes on. The other had short blonde hair and emerald eyes. She was wearing a purple uniform. The third man had messy brown hair and glasses in front of chestnut eyes that read of wisdom. He was in a beige suit and neat red tie.

"Could it be?" Gabe spoke up against Maria's unending bickering. "Naomi Kimishima and Derek Stiles!" The diagnostician ran up to the two who entered with much haste. "Naomi, you're late." he scolded jokingly. He then turned to Derek in the wheelchair and put on a more sombre look. "Man, I haven't seen you in a while... what happened?"

"Gabriel Cunningham, it's been a while." Derek replied happily at the sight of his old friend. "And I just got hit by an ambulance a week ago; nothing too serious." Gabe flashed a concerned and dumbfounded look while Derek could only laugh at the stupidity of his statement. "Anyway, I'll be back on these legs in a few weeks, but for now, I'm stuck in this hunk of metal till my legs are completely healed... unless _she_ forces me to stay on this a bit longer."

"You nearly forgot about me." the nurse behind him groaned. She then proceeded to look around the room. "Then again, none of you really know who I am. I'm Angie Thompson... and I'm a surgical assistant."

"Nice to meet you then, Ms. Thompson." Gabriel shook her hand. "My name is Gabriel Cunning...ham." He couldn't help but emphasise that part of his last name considering the topic of the conversation he just went though with Maria. He allowed his eyebrows to jump a bit with a devious smirk on his face. But realizing that Derek wouldn't exactly want him to be hitting on his girl, he shoved the cigarette that still remained between his fingers into his mouth and fixed his posture. "I work at Resurgam as a diagnostician."

"Remember Angie. In a few weeks, you'll be 'Angie Stiles'." Derek gave her a wide grin. "When are you going to start introducing yourself by that name?"

"When I officially have it, so calm down, Dr. Stiles." Angie slapped Derek on the back of his head causing him to moan in pain slightly.

"I see how it is..." the surgeon protested in reply.

"So, Dr. Muller. How does it feel to finally be out of that ice box they called your cell?"

CR-S01 clenched his fists and released them repeatedly as though testing his fingers. "Nothing much physically." he replied. "But on the inside, my mind feels a lot more clear. It's nice to know that one heavy burden is finally off my shoulders." He then looked to Derek and Angie. "Umm... excuse me for asking, but what are the two of you doing here? I'm pretty sure that two important people such as yourselves hardly have the time to come here so leisurely."

"Ahh, you catch on quick." Derek quipped. "But quite the contrary; Angie and I are on vacation right now, aren't we, sweetheart?" Angie nodded happily which made her fiancé smile, though she caught on quickly to the inside joke he made. "On behalf of Caduceus USA, we request that you join the Special Disease Counteraction Team."

"Wait... what...?" CR-S01 couldn't believe how quickly this came at him.

"Hey, you can't do that!" Maria interjected. "Dr. Muller belongs to us in Resurgam! I don't care just how high-ranking Caduceus is... you can't take one of our valued surgeons away! We need him!"

"She has a point." Tomoe concurred with a strict tone. "We have already made arrangements for Dr. Muller's stay as soon as we found out that he was going to be given another trial. We were confident in his innocence, as well as his abilities, a long time ago."

"The kid needs to stay." Gabriel argued. In reaction to Derek's proposition, he nearly spat out his cigarette. "He helped us gain a reputation after the Rosalia outbreak. And besides, he's what keeps us together these days! I respect you a lot, Dr. Stiles, but on behalf of CR, I respectfully decline."

"He's our friend." Hank finished off. "I refuse to allow you to employ him."

Derek chuckled to himself. He loved just how put together the five doctors all were; their bond was to be commemorated. He looked to CR-S01 with gleaming eyes... he wondered what he would say in response to the request... even if they were all misinterpreting it.

"I understand that Caduceus' power over the medical district is strong and even if I decline, under law, I could be forced to join anyway." CR-S01 chose his words carefully and spoke slowly, but with conviction. "However, my place is here with Resurgam. I've only just started my new future and recently, I've decided that my future resides within saving lives here in Portland."

Angie watched as her partner could only chuckle at the huge misunderstanding everyone seemed to be making, but she didn't react. She too enjoyed watching the passionate bond between the characters and couldn't help but see how Derek intended for this to play out.

"I commend you greatly for your decision." Derek replied after a slight moment of silence. "However, you didn't allow me to finish." He looked up to Naomi, signalling for her to continue. He knew that she too had been let in on the full story.

The group looked at Derek with a peculiar look before turning their attention to Naomi. "You see, the medical industry has become corrupt beyond one's imagination." Naomi sighed exasperatedly. "Through my partner and I's investigation, we have found several corrupt personnel in power and within even Caduceus. As of now, only half the funds are going to a reasonable cause. The other half... well that has been funding a project that unfortunately has fallen into the wrong hands."

She pulled a picture out of her pocket and showed it to everyone. "You see, under the government's concealment, a group of specialists were working secretly on a certain potential cure for the world's diseases." Naomi turned away from the photo and faced those of the trauma team in Resurgam. Her gaze focused on CR-S01's. "Kind of like Albert Sarte's ambitions, if you ask me." she commented. "The cure would create an invincible immune system compatible with humans."

"However, a cure as amazing as that could easily provide an immense amount of money." Angie continued. "This is why our government kept the research secret; they waited until it was complete so they can take the result and use it for their own ambiguous exploits." She then turned to Derek, expecting him to continue off from there.

"Somehow, a separate group managed to catch wind of it. The research was meant to be kept a secret, but we believe that there may be a mole amongst the researchers." Derek paused before continuing. "Victor was quite pissed when suspicion fell on him some time ago."

"Umm... excuse me, but what does this have to do with CR?" Tomoe interjected.

"You really have to let us finish." Derek replied with a tinge of false annoyance. He agreed that the story was rather long, so he shared their pain. "Anyway, it didn't take long for the officials to be infiltrated by this separate group. Along with the corruption of the higher-ups came the thievery of chunks of research."

"And out of the research they stole came about the other side of a cure." Naomi looked dramatically at everyone. "It turns out if you reverse part of the formula for the incomplete cure, you can come up with a devastating pathogen."

"You're kidding me... another one?" Gabriel groaned. "You should be fine without Dr. Muller then! I mean, you're Derek Stiles! You're the guy who defeated GUILT... another pathogen shouldn't be too difficult to defeat."

"Yeah, but at that time, I had access to the facilities at Caduceus." Derek admitted. "And I wasn't exactly stuck in a wheelchair either."

"Wait, what are you talking about exactly?" Hank asked warily.

"Simple." Angie replied. "I'm pretty sure we mentioned that even Caduceus has been corrupted, but it's a lot worse than that." She closed her eyes, holding back the sudden wave of tears that came about at the thought of what had occurred. "The terrorist group needed to test the effectiveness of the pathogen..."

She paused as her little hint of the tragedy sank into everyone's eyes. As though on cue, everyone's eyes widened in realization of what happened and looked intently at Angie, hoping that what she said next would prove their guesses false. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be.

"Well, now one of three main branches of Caduceus is completely down and Derek and I are stranded here while half of Angeles Bay has been evacuated."

"What the hell?" Maria exclaimed angrily. "Why am I only hearing about this now?"

"Well, the government censored it out to avoid too much panic." Derek answered. Maria could only roll her eyes at such a meek response, but Derek continued the story nonetheless. "The two of us had been on vacation nearby at the time of the incident; Sidney allowed us a bit of time off after what happened to me. But even if we wanted to go back and help out, we couldn't because not a single person was allowed in or out of the city, so we were stranded here for a few days. Fortunately, we met up with Naomi, who happened to be someone we knew who was in the area, and then she led us here."

"Basically, we weren't just asking Dr. Muller to join the Special Disease Counteraction Team… we were asking all of you." Angie finished off. "We need as many people as we can… Caduceus USA is in complete shambles and 97% of the staff is down due to the pathogen. Even now… we're still looking for a treatment against it… but we can't do anything if it's just the two of us."

"Even if we're... us." Derek remarked without a sign of modesty.

Maria let a large smile grow onto her face; her canine teeth making it look as though it were the sneer of a tiger ready to lunge at her prey. "If you started with that, then we all wouldn't hesitate… to agree. We are SO in!" She looked behind her. "Isn't that right, everyone?"

"Oh hell yeah!"  
"I'll do anything in my power to help save everyone."  
"If all of you are in this, then so am I."  
"And clearly, you don't need an answer from me."

Derek smiled brightly. Finally, things were starting to look up for the world. "Very well. We'll probably start setting up the base at err… Resurgam, was it? I'm glad for all of your support, but even so, I'm sure it won't be enough to take down the terrorists."

"What are their names?" Tomoe asked.

"According to our investigation, they call themselves the 'Dai Konran'." Naomi explained. "Before the attack on Caduceus, they had left a letter stating so. However, other than their main method of attack, the name is all we know about them. Their motives and numbers are still unclear…" She sighed openly. "It seems like an impossible battle, but we already have all of you on our side, so I'm sure we have a chance."

"Just a chance?" Dr. Cunningham asked sceptically.

"Anyway, we'll need to get word out of our need for new recruits." Derek continued, chuckling a bit at his old friend's remark. "But at the same time keep it out of the Dai's ears for as long as we can. But otherwise, thank you again."

"It's not a problem, Dr. Stiles." CR-S01 replied before sighing to himself and dipping into a bit of mental dialogue.

"_Looks like Fate chose this for me. Just when I finally get freedom, I'm once again caught up in another affair… but it looks like this time, I won't exactly be alone."

* * *

_

"All preparations are ready."

"Very well." A figured cloaked in darkness chuckled from the corner. "Fear is usually the most powerful weapon one can possess, but with this…" He held a vial containing a greyish liquid inside. Despite the warm temperatures, the vial and liquid were freezing cold. If the man weren't wearing special gloves, then his fingers would have been completely frozen and in need of amputation. "…We'll win."

He looked in front of him where five people stood. He had met up with two of them in the epidemic they caused back at Caduceus while the other two had come on their will. He knew that these five could be trusted. They all wore different clothes; the Dai Konran didn't bother with something as time-consuming as uniforms. They all knew each other and that recognition should be enough.

"I would like you five to go out and find others willing to join the cause." the leader stated. He stepped into the light and a few stepped back in fear. Their leader was in a menacing cloak and suit and his identity was shrouded with a white mask that covered his face. The mask itself seemed to resemble a silver flame; the tips spiked over the face itself and extended beyond.

"Yes, sir." they all responded simultaneously in a bizarre monotonous tone. With that, four of them walked away to complete their task while one stayed behind.

"What is it you want?" the masked figure inquired. His tone was calm, but strict and sent shivers up the remaining man's spine. The man straightened his posture and built up the confidence in him before replying.

"Well sir… I was hoping if I could have another dose of… _it_…"

The leader chuckled and walked towards a crate positioned in the corner adjacent to where he had been standing. He pulled out a vial identical to the one in his gloved hand, injected some into a syringe, and whipped it at the man's leg, causing him to crumple instantly.

"…I hope you're satisfied."  
And with that, he pressed the remainder of the liquid into the man's bloodstream and called for someone to carry him out.

* * *

**OC Info Requirements**

Name (Not something TOO long or I'll use a nickname)

Age (17 or older)

Gender (Male or Female)

Personality (I beg that you are all creative and original!)

History (Be original… but not to the extreme)

Physical Appearance (Height, build, hair style + colour, eye colour, etc)

Regular Attire (What they wear all the time)

Nationality (Background)

Social Class (Citizen, Refugee, Official, etc.)

Associations to 'Trauma Series' (if any… they can be a completely new OC or they can share a relationship with a member of ANY of the cast… even New Blood if you prefer).

Specialty (Nursing, Surgeon, jobless, etc… NOT cornered to medical industry)

Side (Terrorist or Hero)

Other

(Oh, and if you want your character to have a Healing Touch, feel free to mention one, but it is not too likely that it will be used. I will contact you through PM if I want to make a change to something given to suit the story. Each person can contribute up to three OC's… umm, I think that's all I have to say!)

* * *

A/N: So this is a Trauma Center/Trauma Team crossover OC fic… I've always wanted to try one of these, so I hope I get a good response! =P However, the next few chapters will probably be updated before I leave to Florida on my Spring Break… which is in March. I only wanted to post this earlier to get an early response and have to work on. (Well, unless I get a HUGE response, then I won't disappoint everyone and update quickly!)

So go right ahead!  
Suggest something!

And I'll persuade Kix to work on some fanart for your OC's… unless you guys want to draw your own? =D Her DA account should be on my profile… erm, so see you all soon!

And BloodyRosalia, in exchange for looking through this before I put it up, your OC shall be about as major as a subby character can be! =)  
Not saying that everyone else's won't have a chance at a major position...!

Did I mention up to three OC's per person?


	2. Teenage Interloper

**Disclaimer:** _I don't know what happened, but my Geass didn't work on ATLUS... wait, this is the wrong fandom? My bad... ATLUS continues to avoid my control. _

A/N: So it's been a while, but the response was well-versed. =D I've gotten far ahead into my other fics, including fixing a mistake that would have been devastating to the organization of this other fic... oh right, you guys don't care.

So it's about time it begins, does it not? I'm still accepting OC's, of course, but let's see what I can do with the ones I have now... *chuckles* I sure am lacking suitable 'terrorist' OCs... and males. =P Oh well~! And the first of the OC's already submitted are featured in this! =D

*laughs* Ahah... a fire truck!  
...You'll get the joke soon.

Enjoy!

* * *

"So I guess you can stay here for now, Derek, Angie."

Tomoe gestured them into an office on the first floor. It has only been an hour since the group left the District Court and returned to Resurgam in order to begin preparations for what they were to do. The couple thanked the Japanese endoscopic surgeon and took a peek at the room given to them hastily.

The office itself was of a moderate size with one desk, a TV, a bookshelf lined with titles of books they had never seen before, and a nice window over-viewing the front of the hospital. Angie wheeled Derek in as the two took in their new surroundings.

"So I guess we'll be working here for a while." Angie sighed before she turned to Tomoe who remained standing at the door and smiling lightly at the couple's satisfaction of the room. They were lucky to find it at such an inconvenient time. Fortunately, a doctor had retired the week before and that was how this empty room was born. Hank had run into here and set up another desk for the two before Tomoe gave the tour of the hospital and lead the couple in here.

"So what do you think?" Tomoe asked hesitantly.

"It's great!" Derek turned one of the wheels of his wheelchair to turn and face the endoscopic surgeon. "I'm glad to see that you are taking well to provide us with supplies, though we could just work at our hotel room..."

Angie kicked Derek's wheelchair, causing him to yelp. It was funny how he still wasn't used to Angie's sudden violence, but he figured he'd be seeing it every day, so he might as well try and cope. "No, it's great." Angie admitted before leaving Derek's side and walking up to take a nice view at the scenery outside the window. Below the ground, she spotted CR-S01 and Maria talking with each other as Gabriel and Hank began walking further out front._ "Hmm... I wonder what they're talking about..."_ Angie asked herself.

Tomoe noticed the commotion as well and became slightly worried. "So I guess I will be taking my leave now." Tomoe bowed politely. "I hope you enjoy your stay and we will accommodate to your needs to the best of our abilities."

"Hey, no need to be so polite; we're partners now." Derek flashed the surgeon draped in a pink kimono a light-hearted smile. "And it's not like we're in a castle either... Angie and I can handle ourselves. Just do the best on whatever you have to do."

"Th-thank you, Dr. Stiles."

"Not a problem, Dr. Tachibana."

And with that, Tomoe walked off to meet up with the others out front.

* * *

"What happened?" Tomoe called out to the two in front of the main entrance doors. Maria and CR-S01 stopped their chatter and turned to face the Japanese woman.

"Oh nothing." Maria replied. "Just that, y'know, Gabe and Hank went to check out some kid who fell off her bike out front. They think she sprained her ankle..."

"...It's much worse than that, actually."

Tomoe, Maria, and CR-S01 turned in surprise to look at the man who had interjected along with the other carrying a severely injured girl in his arms. Her limbs were limp and her face lacked life as her blood seeped into the clothes of the hero.

"Wh-what happened to her?" CR-S01 cried out. "I thought she only fell off her bike!"

"I... I'm not exactly sure." Gabriel admitted sorrowfully. "Yes, she fell off her bike and we went to ask her if she was alright. She was telling us that she was fine when, out of nowhere, this 18-wheeler..."

"Bring her in now then!" CR-S01 exclaimed. All he needed to know was how there was a patient in need. "Hank and I will operate on her."

"Right, Dr. Muller." Hank and CR-S01 then sprinted into the hospital to get ready, leaving the three alone.

"We should probably help out the driver of the 18-wheeler then." Maria declared. Tomoe agreed and the two began to walk towards to the scene when Maria realized that Gabriel had stayed behind. He had more of a sombre look on, not the usual lazy but wise one he had on when around her. "C'mon, Dr. Cunningham... you comin' or what?"

"You don't need me... I mean, I can't even lift a scalpel and save some guy's life. There's no point in me coming." He sighed, hiding his shameful face from the two women. "I think I'll stay behind and help out Dr. Muller and Dr. Freebird." Gabriel spat the cigarette stub in his mouth before walking in. However, just as he opened the door, he paused and turned back to see Tomoe and Maria still staring at him intently. They had stood still on their spot.

"Dr. Cunningham, do you really think that matters?" Tomoe murmured. "The two can handle themselves... shouldn't you help us ladies out instead?"

"You don't know... what it's like to be trapped in a cage of metal... what it's like to _die_ in a cage of metal..." Gabe groaned softly. "The truck crashed into a tree and the driver was bleeding profusely. I tried to help her before Hank and I returned here, but she was already dead."

"So why didn't you stop us from going then?" Maria protested. "If you knew she was dead, then why didn't you tell us?"

"... I figured that you'd find it out, so there was no need for me to tell you."

"Screw that, you're coming with us whether you like it or not!" Maria then ran and pulled Gabriel away from the doors and dragged him toward the site. Oddly enough, the diagnostician didn't bother fighting back. "You're acting too weird for my taste." the first response medic continued on. "I'll figure you out eventually, but—"

She paused as soon as the three of them arrived at the site. There was a large truck on fire to the side by a tree and its products, boxes of groceries, had spilled all over the ground. Serrated metal stuck up in grotesque poses as the truck seemed as though it had been ripped violently into three pieces.

But there was one last piece of the puzzle that caused the three's eyes to widen in unison.

The driver stood to face them in all her bloodied glory.

* * *

"H-how are you alive?" Gabriel exclaimed in utter surprise. He released himself from Maria's grip and ran towards the supposedly dead woman, but in reaction, the woman pulled out a switchblade from her back pocket and pointed it towards the diagnostician.

"Get away from me, you filthy doctor." the girl muttered.

Gabriel simply raised his hands to show that he meant no harm as he retraced his steps and returned to the side of the two bewildered women.

"She was the driver of that 18-wheeler?" Tomoe couldn't help but be surprised. She had always imagined truck drivers to be fat middle-aged men with giant bellies and stains on their clothes from all the fast food they ate. She hadn't imagined this young teenage girl to have a life as a driver. Even if she defied the conventional stereotype, Tomoe just knew that the woman was too young to even possess a driver's license.

The girl appeared to be about sixteen, though it wouldn't be much of a stretch to say she was one or two years younger. She had short layered hair in a deep black with dark violet eyes. By the looks of her skin tone and bone structure, the three guessed that she was Asian; a 5'4 woman of Japanese descent. She wore a collared black and purple jacket with rolled up sleeves and a fitting black shirt underneath along with grey combat pants and a white, blue, and periwinkle DCs.

The strangest thing about her appearance would be both the peculiar silver machine that resembled an arrow which rested on her right arm along with fact that she had just been victim of the truck accident, according to Gabriel, but she showed no signs of damage. In fact, despite the fire and blood the three could see from even where they stood, the teenage girl didn't seem to be injured or even slightly cut. Blood caked her face and clothes, but there wasn't a gash in sight.

"We're only here to help you!" Maria called out. "So please, there is no need for any violence... please put the knife away now."

Gabriel couldn't help but chuckle.  
It was odd hearing Maria herself telling someone that there is no need for violence.

The girl's arm wavered slightly, but otherwise, the blade still remained in her hand. She turned behind to look at the flaming truck as another crackle was let on by the scorching fire. However, Maria and Tomoe took this as a chance to try and apprehend the girl and pounced. Tomoe kicked the blade out of the woman's hand while Maria pinned her to the ground. In the surprise, the girl let out a startled gasp and clenched her teeth in the strain of trying to fight back. Even so, she said nothing.

Out loud, at least.

"_Wh-wha—Don't just stand there...!" _

A strained voice was directed to Gabriel who remained in the sidelines, unable to act. He continued to stand there in stunned silence. "Who... are you...?" he whispered.

"_C'mon! H-Help me!"_

"R...right—!"

Gabriel then bent down and vehemently tossed Maria away from the strange girl against her protests and lifted his arms to their full length from his sides as he stood up and defended her from any more harm. "Stop." he declared. "Please... stop hurting each other."

"Gabe, what are you doing?" Maria exclaimed as she got off the ground after the diagnostician had pushed her down. She wiped off the gravel on her cheek and glared at her unwavering colleague. "Do you even know her...?"

"Err..."

From behind the diagnostician, the girl struggled to get up. She looked up to find that the man that had encountered her earlier was now defending her. The sheer mood of the situation and how quickly the tables had turned caused her to flash him a soft smirk.

"_Keep them distracted..."_

She crawled slowly over to where Tomoe had kicked her knife away. She picked it up slowly to try and avoid too much attention on her personage and hid it in her pocket. She then looked at the strange machine on her arm and discretely pressed a few buttons. A small syringe then popped out from one of its compartments containing a transparent liquid that almost resembled water. She held it between her fingers and a slick smile crawled onto her face.

"_And now..."_

Tomoe's attention suddenly gazed away from Gabriel's protests and landed upon the strange teen on the ground. The sun bounced off a metallic item in her hand, the tip which was now pointed at Gabriel's leg. The realization of what the girl was about to do with the sharp pointy metal object clicked instantly in the Japanese surgeon's mind. "Gabe, watch out!" she screamed as she bolted to her partner's defense.

"_...Thank you, Dr. Gabriel Cunningham. Thank you... for everything."_

The girl stabbed the syringe into the back of the diagnostician's leg and pushed the medication in with her free thumb. The diagnostician collapsed in an instant and landed on her shoulder. Carrying him fireman style, the girl got up and gave a brutal kick to the oncoming Tomoe, knocking her to the ground. Needless to say, the teen wasn't helpless and knew how to defend herself. Unfortunately, Tomoe didn't possess this knowledge and was caught by surprise as the kick lashed out knocked her over to the side and gave her a pretty bad concussion.

"It... It was just a sedate!" The girl exclaimed in an almost reassuring tone as she pressed as few buttons on her watch like mechanism. "There's no need to be too concerned over your friend!" A strange hawk-like item burst from its main compartment and in an instant, a surf board with peculiar claw-like 'wings' and a crescent tail formed. What was even more peculiar was how it was hovering over the ground. The girl placed the unconscious Gabriel on the metallic surface as she jumped on. The board flashed yellow in reaction to the contact of her soles and began to move forward.

She rode it like a child would a skateboard.  
A hovering skateboard.

"Th-that's not possible..." Maria stammered as she sprinted to try and save Gabriel. "That technology shouldn't even exist yet, let alone in the hands of a teen carrying Gabe off to who-knows-where... STOP!" Her legs seemed to move even faster than the speed they already were in as she tried her best to catch up to the two, but it didn't take long for the girl on the hover-board to get away. There was no way Maria could catch a fast-moving machine, let alone a flying one. She stopped in her tracks and raised her fists in the air in utter frustration before screaming her anger out at the sky where the hover-board along with its two passengers once was.

* * *

She then sprinted back to where she was to aid Tomoe who was dusting herself off. At the sight of Maria alone, Tomoe's expression turned from one of pain to one of utter worry and desperation.

"Wh-where's Dr. Cunningham...?" Tomoe asked exasperatedly, hoping that what she had assumed wasn't true. Maria only shook her head and slumped onto the grass to the side. Tomoe followed her, punching the ground. "The defeat... it is unbecoming to me. I should have tried harder."

"Don't beat yourself up over it..." Maria sighed. There was a long pause as the two simply watched the flames in deep thought and mentally scolding themselves for failing to rescue to diagnostician. She looked over her shoulder towards the hospital and then looked back to Tomoe. "We should probably tell the others... they should know."

"You're right, Maria." Tomoe admitted. The two got up slowly, Maria purposefully ripping a handful of grass out of the ground to quench her anger. "We should probably also check up on Dr. Muller and Dr. Freebird and see how the new patient is."

The two headed back up to the hospital, trying their best to cast their sadness away for the loss of their fellow doctor when, as though on cue, Hank burst out with a huge smile on his face and sprinted towards them.

"Guess what?" he exclaimed as soon as he reached their side. "Do I have some good news or what?"

"Heh, that's good. I just hope it is good enough to counter what happened just now."

Hank looked at Maria and Tomoe confusedly and turned his head towards the column of smoke rising from the truck until it instantaneously burst. "...What happened to Dr. Cunningham?" he inquired strictly.

* * *

"For the umpteenth time, I wasn't the one who saved you!"

CR-S01 groaned as the young girl continued to hug his waist tightly. The doctor tried his best to walk, but the girl seemed to be holding her back. The girl was rather young, a Caucasian girl about twelve years of age. She had extremely short beige hair and deep purple eyes; about the same shade the teenage woman Tomoe and Maria had encountered just recently. She wore a green hospital gown and, like the other girl, despite the accident she had just gone through, the young girl didn't seem to bare a single scratch.

"Oh hey, more doctors!" The young girl finally let go of CR-S01's ribcage, allowing him to breathe freely and watch as the girl ran up to the three and took a curious look at them. Her hand instinctively reached for a particular item located behind her, but it only grabbed air. "Oh no, where's my camera?"she exclaimed. Her eyes whipped back and forth, but after an unaccomplished attempt at finding her precious treasure, she sulked.

"Looks like you have a new fangirl." Tomoe chuckled lightly. CR-S01 chuckled back sarcastically, but returned it with an annoyed glare. Tomoe ignored him and bent down to face the sulking twelve-year-old with a large smile on her face. "Hey, what's your name...?"

"I'm... Eira. Eira Pierce!" With the question, Eira looked up at the endoscopic surgeon with a confident with beaming radiance. "I'm the greatest photographer slash doctor alive!" Her arms immediately found their way to her hips as she pulled off a confident pose. "Or rather... I'm not sure what to be when I grow up. I've always wanted to be a photographer, but at the same time, I wanna be part of the medicine people!"

"M-Medicine people...?" Tomoe repeated with a dumbfounded tone.

"Yeah! But Daddy tells me I can't be both and one day, I have to choose one only." Her large smile turned into a pout as she crossed her arms and looked away. "Life's unfair." she muttered.

"Hehe, tell me about it, sis!" Maria chimed in. She then looked up to CR-S01 with a look that read 'What happened?' and he returned it back with a shrug.

"I'm not sure..." CR-S01 replied. "You see, Hank and I scrubbed up and readied an operation room to 'save' her. However, just as I picked up the scalpel, Hank noticed that any form of injury Eira had sustained during the accident had... healed completely." He thought back to their bewildered looks in the OR. "We checked to make sure and found that she had become completely okay... almost as though what had occurred outside about an hour ago didn't happen."

"But I saw her when you brought her in! She was half-dead!"

"What's this about being half-dead?"

The five turned around to find an indigo-haired man in glasses wearing the green uniform pullover and dark slacks. His eyes flashed to a particular girl with them who suddenly came at him screaming his name.

"Darnell!" Eira exclaimed happily as he ran into his open arms. Darnell joyfully lifted her off the ground, spun her in the air, and placed her softly on firm floor. "It's been the longest time!" she chirped.

"It's nice to see you again, Eira!" Darnell exclaimed. "I haven't seen you since your dad brought you along with him in med school! How in the world did you find me?"

"Well, it took a while. I searched the Internet, the phone books, everything! But then eventually, I heard that you landed a job here and I begged my dad to bring me to see you!"

Darnell looked up to find four doctors looking at him intently and he returned their gazes with a look of embarrassment. His face immediately turned into a blush pink. "You were saying something about her being 'half-dead'...?"

"Oh right, I was biking over here when this giant truck came out of nowhere and ran me over before bursting into flames!" She said with such a large smile; it seemed as though she hadn't been affected by the event at all. "But then this angel came and saved me... they had the strangest eyes... I passed out, but when I woke up, that guy over there..." She pointed enthusiastically at CR-S01. "...I think he's the guy who saved me. He also has strange eyes which felt like that angel, so he must be him! Except... angels are supposed to have wings, right?"

She then walked over to CR-S01, giving him looks as though she were sizing him up. "Mr. Angel... Are you like one of those wingless angels who gave up their wings to come down to Earth and save people? Did you come for me...? If so, I'm so happy, but my love belongs to Darnell!" Eira flashed the medical engineer a lustful look and Darnell's light red cheeks flamed up into a full-on tomato red.

"Hey..! Don't say that in front of them!" Darnell ran to her and covered her mouth. Eira bit his hand in response, causing him to jump up and wriggle his arm in the air as though shaking off the pain while Eira laughed hysterically.

Maria, who was too deep in thought to laugh at the situation, looked at her eyes once more. "Hey Eira... do you remember if you saw a teenage girl at the scene...?"

Eira turned to face her. "Erm... no, sorry!" she replied while knocking on her head playfully. "Silly me, I can barely remember what happened."

"Do you happen to have an older sister...?"

"Uhh... nope! I'm an only child! You can even ask daddy!" She glanced over at her friend behind her. "Or Darnell!" Maria looked up to face him, but Darnell shook his head silently as an answer.

"Hmm..." Maria could only groan inwardly. She thought that maybe the girl would've seen the woman they had seen and may know something about Gabriel's assailant, but it looks like she was wrong.

Seeing Maria's rare disappointed look, CR-S01 spoke up. "So what happened out there? Did you get a good look at the driver's condition?" He looked across at the three. "And where's Dr. Cu—"

"Hey, have you guys seen Gabe around?"

Everyone turned to find Derek and Angie walk in along with a young boy with the same scruffy hair as his father. Derek, in his hands, had a bunch of files labelled 'Caduceus' on the cover page. Angie remained behind him, wheeling the crippled surgeon in. The boy came in right beside the couple with a joyful look to be reunited with his doctor friends, but when he set his eyes on Eira, his jaw dropped.

The young boy, about Eira's age as well, ran up to her and raised a slick eyebrow. "Hey." he said smoothly. "I'm Joshua Cunningham... What's your name, beautiful...?"

Eira slapped him across the face and frowned.

"My love belongs to Darnell!" she protested. Her nose pointed up agitatedly as though to prove her point.

Joshua looked up at the medical engineer who was still blushing. When the recognition of who that man was clicked in the young Cunningham's mind his face instantly became cross. "Oh, I see how it is!" he exclaimed angrily. "You stick in the background quietly and play along, but your true plan was to pounce at the right moment and steal my love away from me!"

"Wha—what, no, that makes no sense...!"

"Well then study harder, pretty boy!" Joshua began to punch the medical engineer hard, causing Darnell to groan before running away from Joshua who instinctively began to chase him. Eira followed the two gleefully, excited about how two boys were fighting over her. Everyone watching couldn't help but laugh.

"So, have any of you seen Gabe?" Derek repeated. "Because it looks like everyone but he is here, I'll wait for you guys in the conference room so we can begin with Caduceus-style orientation."

Just as Angie and Derek began making their way down another hall, Hank called out in a way that made them stop immediately.

"Gabe... he's been kidnapped."

"...What?"

"You heard him." Maria retaliated. "Gabe's been kidnapped... and it's my entire fault!" Her fist balled up in an attempt to restrain her anger upon herself and her failing actions earlier to save her beloved colleague.

"No, the fault is mine!" Tomoe defended. She then burst into tears while Maria's lip quivered.

"Hmm... I see." Derek paused in thought. When he spoke once more, the tone he spoke in showed no signs of guilt or remorse. In fact, it seemed as though he thought nothing of what happened to his old friend. "Did the assailant happen to possess a strange machine on his or her arm?"

Maria and Tomoe stopped their emotional breakdown for a minute at the sound of the question. "Actually... yeah, she did." Maria replied, a bit hesitantly at how serious the legendary surgeon had become in almost an instant. "It held a syringe and turned into this board that could fly..."

"...Which she used to get away with Dr. Cunningham!" Tomoe finished off.

"Well, it looks like the plot thickens..." Derek muttered. He looked up to Angie with an expectant look, but she returned his gaze with the same expression. "Come with me. I'll try my best to explain a bit more where it's less... public."

* * *

A/N: OHMAHGAWSH WHAAA...! Did I just update... in the same week? This is very un-Oki of me! Then again, without my author buddy, I refuse to make more detailed chapters that would probably brutally murder your eyes... or any well-written piece of fanfic for that matter.

So here we go! I think I dipped into the plot a bit too quickly and orientation is still much needed. However, CLIFFHANGER! Mwu ha ha ha ha! So I was only able to fit one OC in this chapter, which is quite a surprise because I was only expecting the canon characters to feature in this particular part.

Well, because I LOVED your instant feedback, I couldn't help but NOT disappoint you all and create this chapter much more quickly. This long weekend didn't hurt too much as well (though I somehow have to finish my chemistry project and that book report on a book I never read in the two hours I left for it... crap). I had to hide in my bedroom while my family sang karaoke downstairs (gah, I was blasting music to drown it all out). I had nothing to do, so I worked on this.

Feel free to review and leave an OC! =D (preferably male ones!) Even you guys that already contributed... there is still a major deficit of OC's and I promise that 90% of them will make it onto here! =D Alright, I'll see you all next chappy then!

**Eira Pierce (C) DreamVII**


	3. Echoes May Cry

**Disclaimer:** _Trauma Series belongs to those lucky chaps on the ATLUS team. _

A/N: I love this story too much for my own good... your avid responses fuel this story to the max! =D Honestly, I never knew that you guys could be into my writing so quickly... all I ask is that you bear with me and stick around.

So this chapter, as promised, will cast about a few more OCs from you guys! I'll also reveal a bit on the mystery cliff-hanger I left you on... Of course, I'm still looking for OCs, so feel free to jump back to Chappy 1, stare at the requirements, and fill it out!

Please read and enjoy!

* * *

"Where... am I...?"

Gabriel's eyes squinted open as this pupils got used to the transition between the darkness of slumber and the bright lights of reality. He groaned and, after realizing that he seemed to be lying down on his back, tried to get up. He got up too quickly and a wave of nausea washed over him, causing him to drop his head back and moan.

The fear of him lying down on hard ground came too late as his head slammed down on a fortunately soft surface. If it were cement, the impact may have been enough to crack his skull open like an egg, but his assailant was kind enough to leave him on a soft mattress with a pillow.

But wait.  
How did he end up here?

Gabriel could do nothing but stir around in bed. Unfortunately, his muscles didn't feel like reacting to his commands. His entire body felt as though it were still recovering from a major hangover; his throat was completely parched and his vision, though able to cope with the light, was quite hazy. However, he was capable of moving his head around and slowly examining his surroundings.

He seemed to be in a grimy old prison cell. Everything around him was defined from the colour grey whether it is from the bed sheets he was covered, the bars that prevented his escape or the grey sky outside the tiny window on the wall farthest from Gabriel at the moment.

"What the hell..." the diagnostician muttered as he struggled to get up, though it only proved to be futile because his drunken muscles continued to refuse his sober mind's demands.

"Hmm... it's nice to see you're awake, Dr. Cunningham...!"

Gabriel finally found the strength to sit up and look as a young Japanese teenage girl slid the bars and entered her cell. In her hands was a small tray holding a bottle of water a nice burger from a local fast food joint. She rested it on Gabriel's lap and stepped back to allow him some room. However, the diagnostician was simply too tired to touch anything and was still suspicious as to the identity of the teen who revealed her presence to him.

"Aren't you going to eat?" the girl asked in a curious tone. "Because if you aren't, then I'll gladly eat that burger for you..." She eyed the burger tentatively and Gabe could have almost sworn that she started to lick her lips before she noticed him staring at her and she returned to her nonchalant posture in a flash.

Gabriel examined her carefully. Her looks brought him back memories of what had occurred before he ended up here. He remembered the girl who fell of her bike, and then a truck came out of nowhere... next thing he knew he was flying and finally he ended up here. This girl was the cause for all the trouble and he couldn't help but smirk at how quickly the events came upon him considering how it wasn't too long ago since he, along with his partners, agreed to co-operate with his old friend Derek Stiles and Angie Thompson.

"I... I refuse to eat it until you tell me who you are and where I am." Gabriel finally stated after a brief pause. "I need to know... you need to tell me everything or I refuse to co-operate with you."

"So you WILL co-operate if I let you in on everything...?"

"Erm..." The diagnostician mentally face-palmed himself at the poor choice of words. Oh, what he would do for a cigarette right now. "Well, you used my name before. How do you know me?"

The girl chuckled lightly at the ridiculousness of the question. "How else... you told me yourself!"

"Wha..."

"Well, it doesn't come as much of a surprise to me that you wouldn't remember, but..." The girl stopped mid-sentence as her attention turned away from the prisoner and onto her watch. She pressed certain buttons and after the sequence was complete, a syringe came out of one of its compartments. The contents of the syringe were different from the one that she had used back at the front of Resurgam. That syringe had only contained an anaesthesia that would knock someone out for a while. The syringe she held in her hand right now contained a different medicine. If it weren't for the special container it was held in, the absolute zero temperature of the liquid would have frozen the girl's fingertips.

"What is that...?" Gabriel, in reaction, pushed himself back against the wall as though to distance himself farther away from the girl. However, she showed no signs of wanting to harm him, but this did not let him show any signs of faltering.

"Oh, don't worry. I don't need to use it on you again."

"...Again...?"

"You'll understand later." As though on cue, the girl's stomach grumbled. Because of the silence in the area, it was rather audible and caused the tense diagnostician to relax a bit and even chuckle lightly.

Then a rather sneaky little plan popped into his mind.

Gabriel finally reached out to the box the burger was held and opened it to take a look. It was a double cheeseburger; his favourite burger. The aroma filled the air in an instant and the girl could only blush as thoughts of the soft, mouth-watering burger and what she would do with it if she weren't so generous and ate it herself filled her mind.

As though to torture the girl with the knowledge of her hunger Gabriel lifted the burger in his hands with a devious smirk. The girl couldn't help but watch carefully as the diagnostician moved the burger slowly to his mouth and opened his mouth wide with an avid look in his eye. However, his attempt wavered a bit and he pulled it away.

"Why aren't you eating it?" The girl's tone was quite loud. If she couldn't eat it, then all she could do was imagine herself in Gabe's position and eat it, but the diagnostician refused to take a bite like a small child avoiding his vegetables. The situation caused her to go on a major rant. "I would do anything for a burger! You should be grateful that you're lucky to have such a treat you know! I knew I shouldn't have wasted my..."

She stopped herself when she realized the diagnostician's true intentions. She observed the doctor as he ripped the burger into an uneven half. He compared the two pieces and offered the larger piece to the girl.

"You want it or not...?" Gabriel asked when he noticed the girl's hesitation.

"A-Are you serious...?"

"Of course I am."

The teen's body seemed to shake as the struggle between whether or not she could take it fought within her. Even so, it didn't take her long to make her decision. Her hand slowly made it to the half...

...when Gabe quickly retracted his offer.

"Tell me your name." he growled. "At least give me something to call you... and I'll give this to you."

"You sneaky bastard!" the teen protested angrily, but the thoughts of having a bite into that cheeseburger lingered and it was enough. "But quite smart..." She chuckled to herself lightly for such an easy defeat. "My name is Echo, Dr. Cunningham. Echo... Mayuzumi."

Gabriel raised his eyebrow questioningly as he re-offered the larger half and Echo swiped it quickly in case he decided to go back on his promise. As soon as it was in her hands, it took three seconds for her to finish the savoury sandwich. She swallowed down the last bite with a wide grin on her face.

"Thank you sir!" she smiled contently. Gabriel offered her the water and watched as she chugged down half of it while leaving some for the prisoner as an act of thanks.

Suddenly, the two heard footsteps coming down what sounded like stairs. Gabriel was unable to see outside the bars, so he had no clue what was beyond what he could see.

Echo seemed to perk up at the sound of the footsteps reached her ears. She balled her hands up slowly as though dreading their coming. The tapping sounds grew louder as the person approached. As soon as Echo thought that they were close enough, she suddenly shoved her fist up Gabriel's stomach, causing him to lurch and spit out the water that had been in his mouth at the time.

Gabriel groaned in pain as he tried to recollect himself, but he had no time as Echo's foot smacked him across the face and knocked him into the bars. Fortunately, that was all the violence he would receive at the moment and he looked at Echo silently and fearfully. His eyes read 'What was that for...?' and Echo returned the gaze with an angry one.

"You're filthy." she hissed. "That's what you get for touching me."

"Yes, that is what you deserve, Gabriel Cunningham."

Gabriel fixed his position to have a look at the third person who had entered the premises. It was a slim, but muscular woman who appeared to be in her twenties, but was really about 32. She had short, layered golden hair with the most peculiar amethyst eyes; the right one had a dull streak running through it. She wore a tight turtleneck top with a strange coat over it that almost resembled the one Echo had on. Could it be a uniform?

As Gabriel squinted to get a better look, he realized that there used to be stripes in the black uniform. However, the stripes seemed to be painted over with black paint as though to block it out. Even so, the diagnostician was able to catch a part she had missed while painting. Under the black paint was a patch of orange; a hint of what colour the stripe used to be.

Black and orange.  
Delphi.

"Great, so it looks like we have another visitor." Gabriel groaned. "Oh, but it's a beautiful woman this time!"

Echo kicked him hard as the doctor chuckled to himself while shrugging the pain off.

"Dr. Cunningham, it's been a while, hasn't it?" she smiled. "I haven't seen you and the despicable people you call your friends for a while now."

"...What do you mean...?"

"You don't remember me?" The woman proceeded to lift her golden hair and revealed a strange synthetic membrane on her right ear. Then she shoved her hand down her shirt. Gabriel lifted his eyebrow in a voyeuristic curiosity, but let it go when he saw what she pulled out.

It was a necklace holding a beautiful sun charm.

"No... It can't be..." Gabriel gasped exasperatedly. "I... I thought you were a good person, Sol. Sol Godwich."

"I am."

"So why...? Why are you with the terrorists? Why did you join the Dai Konran?"

Sol scoffed. "The Dai aren't terrorists. In fact, if you looked at it from our view..." Her voice seemed to escalate with each word, though at 'view', she suddenly stopped. "I... I've said too much." She looked to Echo and examined her. "You've grown well, my dear."

"Thank you, Ms. Sol."

"Take care of him for me, will ya?" Sol bent down and placed a hand through the spaces between the bars and started to rub Gabriel's face intimately while he looked away but blushed nonetheless. The touch was smooth and seemed to cause his nerves to tingle lustfully.

Her breasts were touching his face.

"Dr. Cunningham, I assure you, you will not be harmed." she whispered into her ear. "But if you deny what we are saying, then you won't see anything brighter than what you see now for the rest of your life."

"...Damn..." Gabriel shuddered. "But... one last question..."

"...Yes...?"

"...Could you get me a cigarette?"

Sol's grip on his face suddenly became extremely unbearable as her nails dug in hard into the diagnostician's scruffy skin. Gabriel flinched and a hardly audible squeak made it out of his throat causing Sol to laugh heartily as she scratched his face. Blood made it onto her claws as the marks left a scar across Gabriel's cheek.

"I'll be sure to visit you once you make the right choice." Sol declared as she began to walk away. "Oh, and Echo. He wants to talk to you."

"Yes, ma'am."

And with that, the silent clicking of Sol's heels departed up the stairs and out of there. Gabriel and Echo didn't move as they were suddenly gorged in odd silence.

"Hey, Echo?"

"...Hmm?"

"Why are you being nice to me?"

"What do you mean? I could've sworn I just beat the crap outta you ten seconds ago!"

"Yeah, but even I could tell that it was all just a mask."

Echo shrugged lightly and sat on the thin mattress that was there to serve as Gabriel's bed. She looked towards the small hole in the wall which served as the only source of light in this dismal place. "I guess... it's because you're the only one who can help me."

"What?"

Echo dismissed the question aside. "Like I said, everything will come when the time is right." And with those final words, she finally stepped out of the prison, locked it behind her, and followed Sol's lead leaving Gabriel alone to delve into his thoughts.

* * *

Angie and Derek led the group to the conference room Tomoe had shown them in the tour they had taken recently. Angie opened the door and walked Derek in. Noticing that it was dark, she moved to turn on the lights.

And screamed.

"Oh hi there!" the younger of the two men chimed.

"You idiot... you didn't have to scare her!"

"Wh-who are you and wh-what were you doing s-sitting here in the dark?" Angie protested angrily. She hardly put any effort in hiding her startled reaction.

Behind the round table sat two men. One was in his late twenties with medium length maroon hair, more taper in the back while long and wispy towards the front. He had on casual clothing with baggy khaki shorts, flip-flops and a bright yellow shirt.

The other one of the two was hardly in their twenties. Like the man with him, he too had casual clothing; a grey shirt and blue jeans. The loose shirt emphasized his lanky build, though the spiky red hair on his head would beg to differ. Despite the wild appearance, his soft indigo eyes read of kindness and joy.

The remainder of the Trauma Team poured into the conference room. They had heard Angie's reaction from outside and were curious to find out who caused her to scream so loudly.

"Oh simple." the young red-head exclaimed. "We were waiting for you. Isn't that right, Daniel?"

"I told you not to call me by my first name, Kimishima." the man named Daniel growled. However, his disposition changed when he turned his attention to the visitors. "It's a pleasure to meet you all. My name is Daniel Avery."

"And I'm Lucas, peoples!" the red-head teen declared rather loudly. "Lucas Kimishima, at your service!" He stuck his pointer and middle finger out unceremoniously; a peace sign.

"Umm... it's nice to meet you then!" Derek replied kindly. He looked to Daniel, then to Lucas. "Lucas... you're a Kimishima? I'll be honest; I hardly see the resemblance between you and Naomi."

It didn't take long for the boy to understand. Lucas chuckled. "Well, actually, Ms. Naomi... helped me when I needed it."

Derek paused slightly to allow the man to continue his explanation, but because nothing more came, he just raised a questioning eyebrow and continued. "So you never answered my wife—"

"—Fiancée—"Angie interjected.

"—Why are you both really here?"

"Oh, we're just here for the fun!" Daniel exclaimed, pretending to be like his excited companion with the upbeat tone, though giving his companion a harsh glare. He continued with more of a casual tone on. "We were at the courtroom when you told your story and we wanted to help out. Isn't that right, Lucas?"

"Hell yeah!"

"Umm... don't mind me by asking..." Tomoe asked hesitantly. "But... do you two know anything about the medical field at all?"

"Well... I know Ms. Naomi!" Lucas chimed.

"And I guess I can pretend to be a doctor. I AM a professional actor, after all." Daniel shrugged lightly.

"Very well, welcome to the team!" Derek replied without any hesitation. He even said it with a rather big smile. Lucas smiled contently while Daniel brought up a sceptical look before letting it go.

"Are you sure about this, Dr. Stiles?" Hank asked questioningly. "I mean... they don't look as though they can help..."

"Oh c'mon, they look very competent and we need all the help we can get!" Derek replied. His tone and stare suddenly shifted into a more serious one as he looked at the two carefully. "Alright, here's your first task."

"...Yes...?" they both responded. They stared at the man in the wheelchair intently as they waited for his response. Derek took the time to clear his throat and pause for dramatic effect.

"I want you...

...to go...

...and get me a latte."

"You're kidding me!" the whole room seemed to say. Everyone gave him a bewildered look while Derek chuckled lightly at his joke and his to-be-wife groaned at the corniness of his joke.

"Are you serious, because I'll be glad to go and get you some?" Daniel replied. He knew that the key here was to get on Derek' good side and he knew just how to do it. The key was to suck up to the big man... and the big man's girl. "And one for you, Mrs. Stiles." Daniel continued with a smooth tone in his voice.

"Aww..." Angie cooed at the fact that the man used her future name. "Okay fine, you win!"

And so with a smile, Daniel bowed slightly, shifted through the crowd, and exited the room to go out and find the nearest Starbuck's he could find. Lucas shifted uncomfortably on his spot, unsure what his role was to be in this new situation.

"Umm... Mr. Derek. What am I supposed to do?"

"Oh... I think you should go look for Naomi and tell her to meet us here. She is part of the team and she is much needed." Derek smiled lightly, but this time, he had on more of a serious tone. Lucas managed to acknowledge this, nodded ecstatically, jumped off his spot, and ran off.

"Alright, I believe we should begin now that those two are out of the way." Derek declared. Angie shifted him towards the front by the large screen on one wall and everyone else took their place behind the table. Derek then proceeded to hand each member out one of the collective files that he had in his hand.

CR-S01 was the first to open the file. He gazed inside and found many papers, a few manuals on an assortment of procedures, and one document labelled "Pandemonium". He pulled it out of the pile of papers and held it in front of him. "What is this about?" he asked.

"That would be our collective information on the Dai." Angie replied. "Naomi, being Japanese herself, told us that the name was Romanji for 'pandemonium'. A cute name for a terrorist group, if you ask me."

"...C-cute...?"

"Yes, that is correct."

CR-S01 could only shrug the odd comment off. He browsed through the file and saw that there really wasn't much information on them. Along with notes on the pathogen used in Angeles Bay and a document on the type of detonator used, the only useful thing he could see were blurred black-and-white pictures from security cameras present at the time of the Caduceus Epidemic showing a bomb-like object just outside the building and a person, most likely one of the Dai, arming it.

"Hey RONI." Maria called out to the screen. "Do you think you can find this picture in the Caduceus database and enlarge it onto this screen?"

On cue, a strange blue picture popped up onto the large screen on the wall. A female electronic voice came along with it too.

"As you wish, Dr. Torres." RONI replied. The female computer than began to conduct its search. A few in the room had suspected that Angie and Derek would be surprised by the talking computer, but unbeknownst to them, the couple was already familiar with such a system because one of their colleagues had to use a RONI system as well. The spectators were amazed by its speed until the computer seemed to encounter a certain roadblock. "I cannot proceed until a password is entered." she declared.

"Angie, do you mind entering it for me?"

"Sure." Angie moved up to the screen where a small keyboard awaited. She typed in a 26-digit password and promptly pressed the 'Enter' key. Using the new information, RONI inputted it into the server and, due to its validity, the computer gained access to the security camera files.

Everyone watched as RONI pulled up one specific file. It turns out that the picture was only a snapshot and there was an entire video available.

Immediately after the entire video was buffered, RONI played it for the group of doctors. Despite it was in black and white and quite blurry, they were still able make certain important figures. It only showed action they had expected: a man walked up to the bomb and began to tamper around with it.

Though what they saw towards the end was completely unexpected.

* * *

A/N: Well, that was an anti-climactic cliff-hanger. Probably the worst you will see in the entire story... no worries. =)

So good news! I made an outline and I estimate that there will be at least 25 chapters for Arc 1 alone! Also, I believe that there will be an operation scene next chapter... I mean, what is the Trauma Series without actual medical stuff?

Oh yeah, there is at least one of you who know the truth about a specific character and I don't want you to spoil it for the rest, so refrain from mentioning it outside of a PM. =) Please review... especially if you want me to update faster! =D

And I guess I'm still accepting OCs.

**Sol Godwich (C) Surgical Rose  
Lucas Kimishima (C) Storm Uchiha  
Daniel Avery (C) disneytiger**

**Echo "Mayuzumi" (C) PXLight**


	4. Grim Smiles

**Disclaimer**: _I'm not even old enough to legally 'own' anything. Trauma Series belongs to ATLUS and the individual OCs belong to the brilliant minds who created them, then generously donated them for the purpose of this story. _

A/N: Am I the ONLY one surprised by how fast I'm flying through writing this story? Then again, you guys have been awesome so far with your participation and I am FOREVER grateful! Thank you especially to pokemonorochi, DreamVII, Surgical Rose, Storm Uchiha, disneytiger, BloodyRosalia, Anatomy Freak, superdude8, the anonymous reviewer 'Fran', and any others I may have missed; you guys are all great! ^^

=) I've also been writing shorter chapters than I usually do; 4000-5000 words each. If you think I should be writing more, then go away... I can't write anything past 6000 words without the help of my partner. XD

So disclaimer, thank you's, rant... what else am I missing from the pre-read A/N...?  
Oh yeah!

I hope you all enjoy! =)

* * *

"...Dr. Stiles..."

"...Yes, Dr. Muller?"

"Why did that just... happen...?"

"I... I'm not exactly sure myself."

"You mean you've seen this already before now?"

"Of course. For the investigation."

Maria groaned at the pointless conversation that was currently taking place between the two men. "Hey RONI? Do you mind if you replay that last bit of the video record?"

"No problem." the mechanized voice replied. She reversed the video to the point everyone had questioning doubts about. Everyone watched once more the events that took place, making sure to be a bit more careful in their own individual thought processes.

There was a man by a bomb-shaped device. The quality of the security wasn't good enough to make out any real features. It was already known that the very device in front of the man was the same which had released the new pathogen. However, as time progressed, the man simply crouched there, setting the bomb up as quickly as he could.

Just as the data ended, the device detonated while the man was still crouched right beside it. A small explosion occurred, releasing the disease into the air. At the same time, a gust of wind blew about, carrying the airborne pathogen to farther reaches; as a result, half of Angeles Bay had been infected while the other half was evacuated. Those victims were, even now, being privately sent hospitals in safer areas as the government does their best to suppress the media of the incident.

"Why was the technician still there when it exploded?" Tomoe asked for the room. "I mean, he should have probably known how to set it up without blowing it up or causing harm to himself as well."

"It's a bizarre thing." Maria admitted before sighing. It's times like these where a 'Master of Deduction' could probably come in handy. "The ONLY time Gabe's useful is when he's not here..." she scoffed quietly.

"Well, there may be another potential explanation for what occurred there."

Everyone turned towards the door to find Naomi and Little Guy standing outside the doorway along with one Lucas Kimishima.

"Found her!" Lucas exclaimed happily. The three then pulled up a chair and sat by the table with the rest of the team.

"It's nice to have you here, Naomi." Angie said happily. "You too, Lucas, Agent Navel."

The two men nodded at her greeting. They too were handed the same folders everyone else had in front of them and those beside the two men helped them catch up on what had occurred the past thirty minutes. Naomi shook the hands of her former partners before sitting down and receiving a folder as well.

"So what were you saying, Ms. Kimishima?" Hank asked.

"Well, maybe that man wasn't the same person who set up the bomb." Naomi explained. "It's possible that the man was someone who was trying to stop the bomb from blowing up, but failed."

"So that man may not be one of the terrorists?" Maria exclaimed. "That... makes more sense!" Her face expression seemed to glow a bit as soon as her mind made sense. However, CR-S01 would be the one to break such happiness.

"Are you sure about that, Ms. Kimishima?" he asked sceptically. "As of now, there is no proof. The security footage was severely damaged and apparently, this is as far back as we can go before the explosion."

He faced Naomi, waiting patiently for her response. She cleared her throat, showing everyone signs of her hesitation. "Well, I too am not entirely convinced that this was the case." She browsed through the folder that she too had received along with her companions and pulled out a picture of the site of the explosion. It was taken beside a wall bordering the courtyard-style garden on Caduceus property. This was a picture of the scene as it was the moment they had arrived.

Everyone else pulled out the same picture and looked at it carefully. There wasn't too much damage to the location itself aide from the out-of-place police tape and pylons because the explosion wasn't as extensive as most assumed; technically, it was only meant to release the pathogen, but for some reason, there was an uncalculated eruption. They could see a few scorch marks around the burnt metal scrap located dead center in the picture.

"So... what exactly are we supposed to be looking for?" Tomoe asked hesitantly.

"Well, you are aware that there was a man that was obviously injured, no?" Naomi answered her. "If you look, there is no evidence that anyone was even here at the scene, let alone a sign of someone being injured or potentially killed. In fact, aside from the bomb, it looks as though no one has been here in days!"

They looked a bit more carefully and found that she was right. Other than the scorch marks, there was nothing unusual about the floor of the scene. They noticed that in the collation of pictures of the location, there was a close-up on the area and still, the team found nothing.

"How... odd." Hank commented. "There's no blood, no pressed grass or slight outline of someone kneeling on the grass, no anything... I wonder how crime investigators decipher these kinds of things..." He had never been involved in a large mystery such as this; he hadn't been expecting to encounter any such thing back when he decided to enter the medical industry. This event was completely new to him, along with almost everyone else in the room.

"Oh Dr. Freebird." Derek spoke up. "Speaking of which... do you mind if you explain what exactly happened out there with the truck and Eira?"

Hank raised his eyebrow suspiciously, a bit surprised by the sudden subject change. "But Dr. Stiles, weren't we discussing the photo—"

"Please, just tell me what happened." His voice was callous and straight to the point causing Hank to stiffen a bit, but to relax immediately afterwards. He knew that Derek was simply concerned for his friend but because of this epidemic which must have devastated his colleagues and him back at Angeles Bay, Derek was forced to bottle it in until he felt ready to talk about it.

Considering that the legendary surgeon and his partner had been away from the scene when the epidemic occurred, the two must have felt rather helpless and guilty. Gabriel being kidnapped just added to this stress.

"Very well." Hank replied. The orthopaedic surgeon placed the picture back into the folder and then looked the crippled doctor in the eye. On Derek's face he could see feelings of anticipation and urgency, but Hank seemed unable to pick up on the signs of regret and anguish everyone else was experiencing. He sighed outwardly as he remembered what had occurred previously outside. The event had shaken him, especially because he hadn't been expecting to be hit so fast.

"Dr. Cunningham and I were talking outside when we saw a little girl, Eira, fall off her bike..."

* * *

**START FLASHBACK**

"...So I can't wait!" Hank chuckled enthusiastically, trying to cheer up the diagnostician he was talking to in front of him. Gabe was deep in thought still when Hank's instincts seemed to cause him to turn his attention away from his partner and look over his shoulder when he noticed a twelve year old girl fall off her bike on the curb.

Gabriel seemed to snap out of his train of thought and notice the girl as well. "Hey, who is she?" he asked inwardly as the two simply watched as she tried to get up, but failed while squeaking in response to the pain. "I think she might be hurt..." he concluded.

"Yeah you're right..." Hank muttered. "We should probably go see what's up." The two unanimously agreed on this situation and began to walk to the curb.

It was a ten minute walk, though it looked a lot shorter and felt a lot longer. Gabriel moved to throw the bike to the side while Hank began to talk to the girl.

"What's your name...?" the surgeon asked kindly.

"My name's Eira...!" the little girl chimed. Noticing both of the men's profession, her eyes seemed to light up. "Do you two work here?"

"Umm... yeah." Hank replied. "I'm an orthopaedic surgeon and that guy, Gabe, is a diagnostician!"

"Oh, that's cool, but I don't need doctors... I'm pretty sure I'm fine! I just accidently hit the curb with my bike and fell off!" Eira flashed a smile that absorbed Hank right in. She had a very innocent look on her face that made the buff surgeon smile back and almost believe her.

However, that smile did not last as Gabriel's desperate cries of warning reached his ears too late.

Gabriel began to sprint towards them after throwing the bike to the grass. Even though the distance between them was rather short, he still didn't make it in time as the screeching sound of the truck came all too soon. The diagnostician leaped and managed to push Hank out of the way.

He missed Eira by a fraction of an inch.

Gabriel and Hank landed on the sidewalk pavement behind them and they could only watch as the truck did its best to turn but fail. The back end of the trailer swerved in front and smashed into the exact spot Eira had been struggling to get up.

The girl flew up in the air a couple of metres and landed with a thud on the same spot Gabriel had just happened to place her metal bicycle. A satisfying crunch of cracking bones rung out in the air and caused anyone within earshot to shudder. However, the sound was outdone as the truck tipped to the side finally skidded to a stop as soon as it heartily crashed into an oak tree. Many leaves fell and a large branch snapped off and dropped onto the front of the truck, causing any intact pieces of glass to shatter and the body to dent.

Gabriel cursed loudly into the air.

"Freebird, get the girl out of here!" he roared furiously as he hastily got up and continued to curse under his breath while running towards the hunk of metal that was once a truck.

"Wh-where are you going, Dr. Cunningham?" Hank called out, still in a state of shock.

"I'm going to see if the passenger's okay!" the diagnostician called over his shoulder as he sprinted to the truck. His legs seemed to move impossibly fast as the adrenaline pumped massive amounts of energy into his legs. "Get her in the hospital now!"

"R... right!" Hank then ran to the broken girl and picked her up as carefully as he could; almost as though she were a fragile treasure. He almost broke out in tears as he could feel where the bones were jutting out and her blood seeped into his skin.

However, he knew that he just had to get a grip or risk losing the life of the girl in his arms. With dramatic steps, he made his way back towards the doors to try and get some help. The walking process was rather slow and tedious due to the fact that Hank had to move swiftly, but at the same time gently enough to prevent any additional turbulence from occurring and potentially harming the already critically injured patient.

Despite his efforts, once he passed the halfway point, the truck exploded behind him as though it were a grand finale.

"Damn..." Hank hissed under his breath as the shockwave hit him hard, but not enough to topple him over. The heat was blazing and he was surprised that he seemed to be the only one who noticed what had happened.

As soon as the aftershock set in, he realized that the explosion he had heard and felt was probably enough to blow the truck to pieces. There must have been a built-in explosive somewhere; the truck would have never been able to create a powerful enough force with just gasoline and other components in the vehicle. Thinking on this, Hank's mind wandered to what might have happened if someone were standing right in front of the truck.

What if someone was in it trying to rescue another person?  
Gabe.

As soon as the realization of what had occurred dawned upon him, Hank apologized quickly to Eira in his arms as he gently set her onto some soft grass and sprinted back towards the site. His eyes focused on the end line with a sheer panic which was unbecoming of a man such as himself.

"Dr. Cunningham!" Hank screamed at the top of his lungs, half-wishing that his partner would be able to respond loud enough for him to hear so far away on top of the noise of the crackling hunk of metal that was once an eighteen-wheeler. His feet smacked the pavement hard as he sprinted and sprinted and sprinted.

However, by the time he reached the end, he had run right into a dazed diagnostician who had managed to escape almost unscathed.

"Dr. Cunningham!" Hank cried out in joy. He gave the confused man a bear hug. "I thought you might have... you know..." He looked back to burning wreckage while letting go of Gabriel and placing him right in front of him. The diagnostician's expression was perplexing at best.

"I...Is there something wrong...?"

"...She's dead."

"...Who's dead?"

Gabriel looked behind him at the wreckage. His eyes were distant and glazed over as the thought finally set in for him as well. "The driver. She died there."

"I... I'm sorry to hear that..."

"We should probably help out that girl now."

"Oh, right." Hank finally remembered that he had left the poor girl out to die on the grass. He began to run back to her, but he stopped himself and looked over his shoulder. "I'll wait for you there and we'll walk back together."

"...Thank you, Dr. Freebird."

Hank sprinted back to the girl at top speed and as soon as he got there, he took the time to gently caress her in his arms and give her the compassion and attention she needed at the moment. The diagnostician caught up soon after. Because Hank had to go slowly, he had no problem keeping pace with him, but it didn't take long for that patience to wear off. Hank soon found himself fast-walking until he reached the door where CR-S01, Maria, and Tomoe stood.

"...They think she just sprained her ankle..." Maria explained to Tomoe who Hank and Gabriel had just seen walk out wondering what was going on.

"...It's much worse than that, actually." Hank interjected.

**END FLASHBACK

* * *

**

"...Damn." Maria muttered. "I never knew just how intense the situation managed to build up to... Well, this is what happened after that with us."

The first response member then proceeded to explain what had occurred with Tomoe, Gabriel, and she along with the strange teenage girl they had encountered there, Echo. Everyone simply listened intently as the intense story grew into a full-on mystery.

A simple curiosity as to whether or not a twelve-year-old girl was hurt after falling off her bike turned into a bomb attack and a kidnapping.

Why isn't there anything normal in Portland anymore?

"So do you think that the girl is part of the Dai...?" Tomoe asked.

"Considering that... weapon she has... the possibility isn't rendered impossible." Derek replied bluntly. "Besides, she has in her possession our Gabriel Cunningham. Why would a _normal_ teenage girl want him anyway?" An odd thought formed in his mind, but he cast it aside immediately.

"Hey Mr. Stiles!" Lucas spoke up. "What's up with that strange thingy then? Why would she have such a machine...? I've never heard of a hover-board existing before; hell, I would love to have one myself!"

"I believe what Mr. Kimishima here is trying to ask about the information we may possess on the mechanism this girl has." Little Guy cleared up. "Of course, this is only applicable if you do, in fact, have any information to provide."

"I do believe I mentioned that I would explain that previously." Derek answered. He looked to the wall to avoid their gazes on him and think about it. "But unfortunately, I don't know what to tell you. In fact, I believe our witnesses Maria and Tomoe know more on the situation about this contraption than even Angie and I..." He trailed off for a moment. "... All I know is that the Dai have in their hands a special tool; not just that pathogen but this hover thing too."

"...What does that mean for us?" CR-S01 asked.

"Simply put, we're fighting an enigma." Angie replied for Derek who was locked in his thoughts. Seeing the concern on his face made her positive that this meeting has become over almost the moment it began.

"So I believe this was a simple quick briefing on what we know on the Dai. The orientation on Caduceus-style work will have to come later. Our search on treatment options for the pathogen will commence next week so all of you will meet us in OR 4 at about 10 AM. If you have any questions, save them for tomorrow when we get a bit more organized. Considering that we had just asked for your help a moment ago and what had occurred so rapidly a few hours ago, we are grateful for the co-operation and resolve you have shown with this. You may keep the folders but keep them out of the public's eye..."

"Hey, I got the lattes!"

Everyone turned to the door erratically to find that Daniel Avery had burst through the door holding the caffeinated drinks.

"Alright, everyone is dismissed." Angie concluded. Everyone nodded and made their way out without too much commentary and a little snicker from Lucas as he passed by and walked out with Little Guy and Naomi. Daniel stood their awkwardly still holding the warm drinks in his hands.

"So... do you still want these?"

Angie smiled and walked towards him to pick the drinks up. "Thanks Mr. Avery." she replied. She handed one to the surgeon in the wheelchair who was still deep in thought. Word on the possible Dai member Maria and Tomoe had encountered seemed to shake him a lot more than expected.

"I hope I didn't miss too much." Daniel continued on. "I... I'm really sorry. It's just that it's SO hard to find a decent Starbuck's around this area. And this crazy-ass lady started beating me up because she thought I was a failure for buying two lattes when I was only one person 'without a date'. What is WRONG with the people in our society?" He put on a dramatically sorrow and annoyed look which made Angie giggle.

"That's good to know." She walked Derek out the door while patting Daniel on the back. "Meet us in OR 4 at 10 next week and I'll try and help you catch up."

"A-Alright! Thank you!" Daniel replied. He rolled his eyes as he walked out to get out of the way of the couple. He saluted them and walked out to sulk about failing the suck-up test.

* * *

Maria and Tomoe walked into Gabe's office, still disappointed in failing to rescue the doctor. Their minds could only be filled with a sorrow unknown to most; a sorrow coming from a close miss.

"RONI, how are you coping with your partner's sudden disappearance?" Tomoe asked to the computer terminal for no apparent reason.

"Computers such as me do not experience emotions." RONI replied coldly. Tomoe and Maria seemed to react to it a bit more sensitively than the computer had expected. Humans are a very interesting species. "But if I were in your place, I would understand your pain. I apologize."

Maria raised an eyebrow. This was the first she had heard of a computer apologizing for its actions. "There is no need to do that, RONI." she answered. "Though I appreciate it, so thanks!" She placed her hand on top of the monitor and gave it something resembling a pat to the head. RONI registered this motion and inputted it into its data.

"You are not such a 'pain in the ass' as Dr. Cunningham described you." Tomoe chuckled.

"Yeah, I bet you were his first real friend, RONI." Maria quipped jokingly.

If a computer could blush in embarrassment, RONI would have done so in an instant. Of course, its titanium alloy build would not allow such a thing, so the computer remained static. But despite looking as though it were just sitting there, RONI, through its 'to hell with that' algorithm, went through the short meeting it had been witness to a few moments ago.

The computer noticed all the somber attitudes the Trauma Team had on but at the same time, Derek and Angie seemed to be rather calm about the situation.

A computer picked up on a suspicion that they may be hiding something.

"Dr. Torres, Dr. Tachibana, if you do not mind, I would like to show you something." RONI suddenly stated. Maria turned away from the papers on Gabriel's desk and Tomoe stopped picking up all the trash and walked over curiously to the diagnosis terminal.

"What is it, RONI?" Maria asked.

"I was watching the footage of your meeting a few minutes ago and I want to run something through you first before I place the record in my database."

"Who told you to do that?"

"Dr. Cunningham taught me to do certain things on my own. A 'to hell with that' algorithm, I believe it is called."

Maria smirked. RONI really was Gabe's only friend. "Alright, let's see what you have."

On RONI's screen, the footage of the meeting reversed quickly like someone rewinding a VCR. Once it started playing, they all became silent before RONI broke it.

"Focus on Dr. Stiles and Angie's reactions." RONI stated. "This is when you told your story."

The two women did just that and they watched as the surprisingly high quality security footage revealed a small grin on their faces which soon became large smiles.

Why were they smiling as Maria told her grim tale?

As soon as Maria appeared to have finished, they wiped off these smiles and placed a mask of sadness on their faces.

"What the..." Tomoe whispered.

"Those posers!" Maria exclaimed; surprised by what she saw. She hadn't been expecting something like THIS from people like THEM. Derek was a legendary surgeon while Angie was his trademark partner. The two were a renowned team, especially considering how little experience they've had when they acquired such attention. They were America's national treasure.

But for some reason, they acted more like con-men than what the news and media announced.  
And this was the first time she had heard of an actual doctor being hit by an ambulance.

What was the real story behind Derek's injuries?  
And what exactly were the two hiding?

Maria groaned.  
These mysteries keep piling up.

Tomoe, on the other hand, sat down on the chair in thought. She was trying to think of why the two would react in such a way to a story of strife. However, all she could come up with were rather absurd conclusions like them being actors in disguise or the two actually being terrorists. She was disgusted with her results; it was dishonourable.

"What are you two doing in here?" a sudden questioning voice popped into the scene.

Maria and Tomoe's heads whipped towards the door where an easily recognisable woman stood in the doorway.

"I'm baaack!" the woman exclaimed, dragging the word on for what seemed like at least a minute.

"Chief Patel!" Tomoe exclaimed in surprise.

"Esha!" Maria screamed before jumping onto her and giving her boss a proper 'welcome back' bear hug. "I thought you weren't going to return till next week!"

"Well... I got bored." Esha groaned. "There really was nothing to do in Maryland so I came back here. So what did I miss?"

Maria and Tomoe simply blinked in silence. Esha gave them a questioning look before sighing. "That much, huh?" she murmured sceptically. "I was wondering why I saw a surgeon down there in a wheelchair that I didn't know of. Who the hell is he and that blonde chick too?"

"Oh that's just _the_ Derek Stiles..." Tomoe replied softly. "And his partner Angie Thompson."

It was Esha's turn to blink in awkward silence. "Oh. Wow, I really did miss a lot..." An odd silence came between the three women before Esha spoke once more. "So... what are you two doing in Gabe's office anyway? Where is Gabe?"

Maria and Tomoe shrugged as an answer.  
What WERE they doing in Gabriel's office anyway?

"Well, I guess we better start explaining Tomoe..." Maria sighed.

"Actually Chief Patel, would you mind if we fill you in on the details tomorrow?" Tomoe asked. "I apologize, but the events that transpired all happened today and were quite overwhelming. In fact, I still need time to fully digest what has occurred."

"Hmm... I suppose." Esha replied reluctantly. She had been eager to get back into the swing of things, but she figured it could wait. "Could you at least give me a few quick points before you two leave for the night?"

"Alright." Maria answered. "It is only 9 anyway."

"Well... just after Dr. Muller, or CR-S01, was proven innocent of the murders of the victims at the Cumberland Incident today, we met up with Derek, Angie, and Naomi and they told us that half of Angeles Bay was destroyed and that they needed our help to defeat the terrorists that killed and infected all those people."

"So they came here, but just as they did, Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Freebird saw this little girl, Eira Pierce, fall off her bike. They went to see if she was injured but at the same time, there was this truck barrelling down which ended up critically injuring Eira and then crashing into a tree while bursting into flames."

"So Gabe went to search the truck and came out empty-handed. The two then returned here where Hank and CR went into the hospital to help out Eira while the rest of us went to check on the truck."

"But once we got there, the truck seemed to have been damaged by an explosive. Even so, the teenage driver stood in front of us unscathed. Dr. Cunningham was surprised that she was alive because he saw that she was dead in his investigation."

"The next thing we knew, the girl beat us to the ground while she kidnapped Gabe with this strange flying machine." Maria growled angrily at this. "And so we got back where we find that somehow, Eira had fully recovered without us having to do anything."

"And Eira is also in love with that medical engineer Darnell."

"Afterwards, we simply went to a meeting on the terrorists and what Derek and Angie found in their investigation. The terrorists are called the Dai Konran; pandemonium in Japanese."

"I would know." Tomoe interjected.

"And so now we're wondering why, at a certain point where we were telling the two on what had happened outside, they were smiling at the results."

"Which is why..."

"...we're completely confused." Maria finished off.

"You know..." Esha started. "I only asked for brief points."

"Oh... "Tomoe murmured. "Then..."

"CR-S01 was proven innocent and regained his memories, we're in a fight to resist against the Dai... or medical terrorists, Gabe got kidnapped, we met a girl with incredible healing capabilities, we went through a strange meeting on the investigation... and I think that's it."

"Oh, you forgot the latte guy, Tomoe."

"Oh right. The latte guy was late."

"Alright, I won't ask what you're on, but I supposed I better believe it for myself considering what I saw down there." Esha sighed. "I suppose a girl can only miss so much in one day. You two should get some rest and we'll talk more in the morning."

"Okay." the two replied before walking out the door silently to head to their respective homes while Esha stayed behind.

"RONI, is what they said all true?" she asked the computer.

"Yes, I am afraid it is." RONI replied.

"I see... well then..."

* * *

A/N: "Oki, what took you so damn long?" Well, if you haven't noticed, chapters like this are NOT my style. I didn't add as much information or mystery as I had planned to only because I wanted to save the next plot twist for next chapter. That also meant holding back on new OC appearances and that operation I promised to write about a bit longer.

*sigh* Not my BEST chapter in the world.

On the bright side...  
WHOO going to Florida today! ^^ With Kix!  
And I solved the mystery on Esha's sudden disappearance... kinda.  
And during the long road trip, I now have a ton of writing time in the car with my best writing buddy! =P

So I suppose I can tell you that I plan for at least three new OCs to appear in the next two chapters. =) For now, I'm restricting from you guys creating any new characters because I want to work with the plentiful bunch you have all shared with me first.

Thank you for your never-ending support!  
Please review and the such! ^^ This story will get nowhere without it! =D

I'm also looking for a beta-reader! If any of you are interested, speak up now! Only thing is that you will be spoiled of what lies ahead of the story...!


	5. Chronos Vial

**Disclaimer:** _Trauma Center and Trauma Team belong to ATLUS._

A/N: I promised that I'd put an operation scene in that last chapter, but for whatever reason, I seem to have past my word limit and didn't have enough room to put it in. Yeah, it's still not in this chapter.

As a result, here's another update!  
With a writing feat only accomplished when I'm with my writing buddy, Kix. So PXLight becomes a joint account again =D

Hope you enjoy!

* * *

**One Week Later...**

Echo made her way down the stairs into the prison area. The area itself was primarily void of people it was meant to hold; the Dai didn't keep too many prisoners. Because of this, the cells were mainly used as tiny homes for some of the homeless members and people who didn't know where else to sleep for the night. Around her were people still sleeping away all the problems they encountered throughout the day and hoped to erase in this new tomorrow... though considering that they were the 'bad guys', that peace was surely to never come.

However, there was one particular cell reserved for prisoners only and even that cell was occupied. It was isolated in the farthest regions of this special area and was completely unwanted. According to some members, it was the worse cell out of all of them; its conditions were simply terrible. The temperatures, depending on the weather's mood, either dipped to extreme cold temperatures or barely hovered of freezing point. Unfortunately, in the area they were in the weather was almost always in a bad mood.

The teenage interloper passed by cells occupied by sleeping people and arrived in front of this certain cell where a man in his early thirties lay down in bed, his eyes closed and face pale. Draped over him was a thin grey blanket; the only one Echo could find for him. He wore a ragged and dirty lab coat over what used to be a beige suit. At this time you could hardly tell what colour it had been in its glory days.

"You know, I can tell you're not sleeping..." Echo sighed, a bit bemused by the diagnostician's attempt to conceal his true conditions.

"Really?" the man muttered. "I figured that I'd at least be able to fool you." The green haired doctor shrugged off any remaining fatigue and forced himself to sit up over the side of the bed. "How do you do, Echo?"

"I'm fine. Thanks Dr. Cunningham." Echo smiled lightly. "And you?"

"Crappy."

"I figured as much. You've been feeling crappy all week."

"Yeah no kidding. I mean, you coming here every day to check up on me is probably the only thing I look forward to these days. This cell is pretty damn grim."

"Well, thanks!" Echo remarked, speaking in a tone that seemed as though what was stated were a compliment. "But I don't believe that this is the ONLY thing you 'look forward' to." She noticed the condition of the doctor. "You've been trying to come up with an escape plan, haven't you? Your grimy hands and clothing show that you've been palming around the cell for a secret passage of sorts while your large pupils and bags around your eyes mean one thing: the time you should have been spent sleeping was spent searching around instead."

Gabriel could only stare briefly at her before chuckling to himself.

"...You'd probably make a good diagnostician some day, kid. You're pretty perceptive, observant." Gabriel's tone was light-hearted, but at the same time had that smudge of 'I don't really give a damn' lurked somewhere deep within the words.

Echo gave him a sceptical look. "So you think a person involved in medical WARFARE would do well in the polar opposite of what I do...?" She laughed at the thought. "It's funny too. Back then, I used to always want to be a surgeon." She sighed inwardly. "Well, those were all past dreams, I suppose."

"Wait, back up!" Gabriel interjected. "If you wanted to be a surgeon, then why...?"

"...Why what?"

"...Why choose this?" Gabriel's hands and eyes gestured to everything around him and every part of Echo.

"...I had no choice. It's a long story." Echo's tone suddenly became murky and dangerous; like swamp water. Gabriel knew that he was entering unfamiliar territory and should tread lightly while at the same time continue to push with great force.

"I have all the time in the world." Gabriel countered.

"No you don't." Echo simply stated. "I... I'm going to help you. Escape, I mean. But you have to listen to me. And help me as well."

"Wha—"

From around the stairs area, someone came down and screamed loudly. "You fags hurry up and get ready. Commander Night wishes to have a word with all of us!"

At the sound of 'Night', everyone still sleeping stirred in bed, got up, and got ready. Despite what little they owned, they did their best to be in their best. They attempted to blindly fix their hair and smoothen out the wrinkles of their overused clothing. They dragged their hands across stale water coming from a small water fountain where everyone was huddled around in a time short of five minutes and tried to wash the grime off.

Echo's eyes seemed to widen when the proclamation graced her ears. "Why is he moving so fast...?" she muttered under her breath. She then turned back to Gabriel who was watching her carefully. He had no idea what was going on. Echo hastily pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door of the cell and entered. Gabriel watched as she made her way to a corner of the cell, specifically three bricks away from the particular crease in the wall, and revealed a secret compartment by the wall containing a set of black clothes.

She handed them to Gabriel, hinting that she wanted him to change into them. Gabe held the clothes up in whatever light there was in his cell and gave them a questioning look.

"Umm... two questions." he stated. "First off, how did you know those were there? I don't remember there being a secret compartment of sorts..." He was referring back to the intense investigation he had performed throughout the week; the same investigation Echo had figured out he was doing despite it being a major secret for him.

"Guess whose cell this used to be before you occupied it..." Echo hinted with a callous tone and decided it would be best to speak no further on the topic. She noticed Gabriel's mouth move to ask what she meant by that, but she cut him off by continuing quickly. "So what's your second question?"

"Hmm..." The diagnostician felt that he wanted to discuss more on that topic but he could sense the girl's despairing emotions behind that statement. "My second question... how did you know my size?"

"Oh, that one was a lucky guess!" Echo pulled off a sweet smile and brightened up the mood in an instant. She chuckled immediately afterwards. "I guess you want a bit of time to change is that right? I'll wait here, and then we both have to go to that meeting. Hurry up, okay?"

"Alright then, I'll co-operate for now." Gabriel complied. His voice then dipped to a more silent tone.

"Besides... I think I finally found it in my heart to trust a terrorist."

* * *

CR-S01, pushing the RONI terminal in front of him, finally arrived in front of the door leading into OR 4, the same room Derek and Angie had demanded that they meet them a week after that conference. The week itself went by rather quickly with rather riveting emergency operations each day. In a few of these sudden operations, CR himself had to operate and each time he noticed that Derek and Angie were in the observation deck, carefully watching.

In fact, it wasn't even just him who they were examining. They seemed to be constantly learning something new about everyone on the Trauma Team; measuring their strengths and weaknesses, calculating how they could be useful and in which situations it would be best if they were left out, and figuring out how they can improve.

The door swung open as though it opened on its own accord and CR-S01 found that Hank had taken the liberty of holding the door open for him to enter. The surgeon stepped into the moderately large operating room, most likely chosen strategically being that OR 4 was the largest operating within Resurgam's disposal.

CR-S01 placed RONI to the side and turned back to Hank who closed the door seeing that it being open was no longer needed. "Thank you, Dr. Freebird." the ex-convict exclaimed, smiling brightly.

"No problem, Dr. Muller." Hank replied and smiled back. The two then looked to the rest of the people in the room. They checked and found that everyone was there, even Daniel this time. There also seemed to be one other person in the room, but that person was covered in a green blanket.

This person was on the operating table awaiting surgery.

"Now that everyone is here, may I have your attention?" Derek spoke up. He looked to CR-S01 specifically when he said this, considering that he was the last one to arrive for the meeting. Everyone turned to face the wheelchair-bound surgeon as he addressed the group. "You are all here today to have your first look at the devastation that has occurred within Angeles Bay and what may occur in the future when the Dai decides to retaliate once more."

Tomoe let out an audible gulp. She was one of the first to piece together what must have happened to the person underneath the covers. No one gave any particular attention to this and let it be; they too were nervous to find out what occurred.

Angie held up a large picture of a young woman in front of a white house who was twenty years of age. She had olive eyes and wavy black hair that ran all the way down to her shoulder blades. Her features described her as a European-American cross-over; most likely half German. She appeared to be about 5'8 with a nice white blouse. However, she was extremely skinny so the blouse looked as though it were too big for her.

"Her name is Lena Hallinger." Angie explained. "And she is a citizen of Angeles Bay."

"Oh damn..." Maria hissed. She looked away from the picture and turned to the body lying underneath the covers. "Could she be the one underneath there...?" the first response medic whispered underneath her breath.

"This is what Lena looked like two week before _it_ happened." Angie continued. She then placed the photo down to the side and moved her left hand over the covers. Her fingers wrapped around the fabric hinting that she was about to lift the covers and reveal who was underneath. Everyone tensed up immediately.

"Oh, but before you take it off, Angie..." Derek looked directly into the piercing red eyes of CR-S01. "Dr. Muller, you will be the one to operate."

"M...Me?" CR-S01 stuttered nervously. "Umm... of course. No problem."

"That's good." Derek then nodded to Angie, affirming that it was now time to reveal the secret. Angie replied by nodding back silent and began to slowly lift the covers.

* * *

A masked figure stood up before the assembly of the crowd before him. Everyone had grouped together in a secret area above ground. It was located in the outskirts of town; completely away from any form of civilization. Only those of the Inner Circle of the Dai knew exactly where they were. Others just followed the lead and arrived here without paying full attention to their true location.

Echo and Gabriel were not part of the crowd but more to the side. Even so, the two blended in with their dark clothing. Echo wore what used to be a black Delphi jacket but had its stripes painted over with black paint. Underneath that jacket, she had a dark purple shirt and black combat pants. Her silver and purple arrow-head shaped watch, which Gabriel learned was known as a warp-board armlet, rested on her left arm.

Gabriel wore what Echo had provided him: a loose black shirt with worn down black jeans and a matching colour black wool hat covering his green hair. A murky grey scarf was wrapped around his neck and covered half his face as though trying to hide his identity. Echo also gave him a cigarette which he had placed in his mouth and was smoking it gratefully; a week without his daily dose of tobacco was causing him to suffer from withdrawal symptoms in the cell and they were not great.

"Was it really necessary to wear all of these dark clothes?" Gabriel muttered. "Never did I imagine that I, of all people, would find myself dressed as a goth... or a stereotypical criminal at the least."

"Oh, so did you want to stick out like a sore thumb wearing colours?" Echo retorted.

"Well, I suppose I could live with at least having my normal clothes on..." Gabriel trailed off, knowing that this battle was over.

The man, which the diagnostician figured was the leader of this group of misfits, was in a dramatic but tattered black cloak over a blood red and purple suit. The mask on his face was ebony white and covered a bit over half of his face. Despite part of his face being revealed, it was still extremely difficult to discover his true identity because all major figures were covered by the majestic flame-shaped mask or was shadowed over by the continuous lack of light in his direction.

"I... am Night!" the masked figure proclaimed.

On cue, the crowd cheered loudly. To them, the man was a symbol of liberation from the chains of their dark pasts. Gabriel knew from Echo that almost everyone was a member of some form of crime syndicate before. In the end, they were defeated by the government or some form of goodwill and were thrown on the lam and became part of the desperate search for retribution. In the end, they all somehow found each other and grouped together to form the Dai Konran: the single wave of pandemonium. The first members, the members who now form the inner circle, shared one common dream.

Redemption.

"All of you should be aware of what this country's futile government has stolen from us!" Night continued. "They stole our dreams, our hope, our way back into society; they stole the key to our dreams!" He lifted up a small vial containing a dangerous liquid in his black leather gloved fingers. "They stole the Chronos-"

* * *

"-Vial." Derek finished off. "The virus affecting poor Lena along with the rest of Angeles Bay is known as the Chronos Vial and what she is suffering from is what we call Stage 1 Chronos Syndrome."

The Trauma Team looked at the victim of the Chronos Syndrome carefully and compared it to the image of her in the picture. Within two weeks, her body structure seemed to almost have aged rapidly; instead of the twenty year old youthful woman they saw in the picture, they were staring at the face of a 60 year old woman.

"As you can see, as a result of the Chronos Syndrome, Chronos meaning something relevant to time, her body has completely aged." Derek explained. "This includes the functions of the human body, which is why the Chronos Vial is so dangerous."

"Now imagine this happening to a large city." Angie stated. "Imagine this disastrous result affecting now over half the population of Angeles Bay. We have no cure for aging, so we have no cure for the end results of this."

The words hung in the air like a guillotine over their heads. Everyone winced at the thought; how could the Dai pull off such a thing? The results were monstrous, the deed itself was inhumane. There shouldn't be a person in the world that can live with the guilt of causing all this damage to society.

"And you say that they have this type of weapon at their disposal?" Tomoe whispered. "They can cause this much pain and suffering to more people?"

"That is correct." Derek said coldly.

That simple answer was enough to drive Tomoe to tears. Maria hugged her tightly in order to console her, though the deed was done to try and calm herself down as well.

Lucas stepped up to look at the broken Lena more carefully and observed her condition while placing his finger over his chin to form his thinking pose. "Damn, the woman got old fast... sucks she never got laid..." Everyone gave him a questioning look causing him to lift his hands up in defense. "Alright, I'll shut up!" He then turned to the side. "...Old people." he muttered.

"What was that?" Maria growled.

"Nothing, Ms. Maria." Lucas chimed sweetly.

"...So what you are saying is that right now we have no treatment option for this?" Daniel inquired. "Then why in the world did you even bring her here? And is it contagious?" At that time, everyone but Angie and Derek took at least a step away from the dying body.

"Well, Chronos, as we know, can be spread through airborne means." Derek explained. "Though we only say this after seeing how it was spread so rapidly in the Caduceus epidemic. We should be fine as long as her body does not extrude some form of gas that contains the actual pathogen in it." Everyone relaxed in an instant after hearing this and returned back to their huddled positions around the body. "Also, we said we do not have a cure for aging and only the end result, Stage 3, of the Chronos Syndrome. If treated as soon as possible, we may have found a way to treat the patient and save them."

"And that is where you come to play, Dr. Muller." Angie smirked.

"...I'll do my best then." CR-S01 answered. "Just give me the procedure and I'll do my best to accomplish the task at hand."

"Oh, I have no doubt in your success." Derek exclaimed. He gave the surgeon a small smile that did no good to cheer him or anyone else up. Seeing this, Derek adjusted his glasses, having them reflect in the light in the OR in such a way that it shadowed over his eyes.

"I'm just worried if you're scared."

* * *

The speech went on for a few minutes. Night was an inspirational figure that really turned up the fire in everyone's hearts. Gabriel was ashamed that he was letting his words pang his soul too, but that was the power of Night's speech.

"...And so I have chosen five people to be my arc." Night finally declared. "Two of them have already begun their work, the newcomers from back at the Caduceus epidemic. Their names shall not be said out loud here, but I am pretty sure that most are well aware of who I speak of."

"What...? There are traitors that joined the Dai from Caduceus...?" Gabe hissed. "But why?" He looked to Echo hoping for an answer.

"There's this couple that gave in so we could spare their lives from the Chronos." she simply said.

"But what are their names?"

"I don't know. I never asked them." Echo's tone was suddenly one of disgust. "Not that I wanted to anyway." She looked away and muttered something, but Gabriel was too far away to hear it.

Night, of course, couldn't hear their conversation, so he simply continued. "However, I would ask that the remaining three please come up so I can give you my blessing."

"Well, that's our cue, Dr. Cunningham." Echo exclaimed with a cheery tone. She turned to face him and suddenly pulled the scarf a bit higher over his face. "I suggest you keep your face covered if you want to live past today."

"Wait, wh-what the hell are you doing? And what the hell does that even mean?" Gabriel protested as he suddenly found himself being dragged towards the stage. However, halfway through, he decided to continue trusting Echo. It wasn't as though he had a choice otherwise. He relaxed his arms and allowed Echo to lead him to the middle. Soon, he was right beside two other people dressed in black; presumably the other two 'arcs'.

The masked leader whipped his ragged cloak dramatically to turn and face the three he had apparently chosen. The first one, another girl about a year older than Echo, was examined closely first. Their leader said something, He then moved on to the man beside him. Gabriel struggled to see their features due to the scarf over his face, but he could tell their genders through their shadows. Night seemed to whisper something to the man, causing him to flinch slightly before nodding.

Night then made his way to Echo who closed her eyes, awaiting her judgement. Gabriel shivered in fear as he watched Night's gloved fingers streak across her cheek. Echo didn't so much as react to the touch. If Gabriel were in her position, he would have admittedly screamed in fear.

Night suddenly grabbed Echo's left arm, the same arm that had her warp armlet around it. He then abruptly raised it above her head to show it to the crowd. "My champion, the dragon!" he cried out. Everyone cheered and the other two arcs applauded. Gabriel could do nothing but stare with a dumbfounded look; he was unsure as to what was occurring before his eyes. Night allowed a bit of time for everyone to cheer before making a gesture with his hands telling them to be silent.

He then quickly faced Gabriel, causing him to flinch, and carefully removed the scarf from his face. Gabriel managed to pull off a steely look and then turned to Echo who should be happy but was in fact finally showing signs of terror.

For him, perhaps?

"You are this Gabriel Cunningham I have heard of before, yes?" Night's voice was slightly deep and metallic. Gabriel looked at him directly in the eye and noticed that the revealed eye under the mask was shadowed over and looked like an eerie black while the other was normal aside from the ethereal deep indigo iris.

The mask reflected light into the diagnostician's eye causing Gabriel to close his eyes suddenly before decided against opening them once more. He nodded slightly. "Yes, that's my name." he growled.

"I see." Night's voice suddenly became soft and private as though to speak to him personally. "So have you decided on which side you will join? Will you choose the dark side of the side of light? Those who walk the path of mistrust and lies or those who walk a path of honesty and goodness? Them... or us?"

"Wow, this is a rhetorical question." Gabriel quipped, his emphasis on 'wow'. He was slightly thrown off at the last pair as the order seemed a little off, but he didn't bother thinking about it at a time like this. "Of course I would go for the 'good side' as you call it."

"So you will join us?"

"Wait, what?"

Night began to laugh hysterically. "It looks like you are rather misguided, Dr. Cunningham!" he chuckled. "You see, we are the ones who have been hurt by the side you call the 'good guys'. The government is our enemy because they see us as the enemy. We are those of light while the society's current leaders have become the villains."

"Damn, can't you speak in proper English?" the diagnostician groaned quietly. He spat some tobacco in his mouth onto the ground before placing the cigarette back into his mouth.

"_Please Dr. Cunningham... just say yes..."_

Gabriel turned to Echo with a surprised look. He still did not understand where this voice was coming from, though it always seemed to come whenever he was around this peculiar girl. The voice spoke to him like his conscious and for a moment, he was actually considering joining.

But his will resisted it.

"No, I refuse to work with terrorists." Gabriel muttered.

Night frowned at Gabriel's reaction and waited slightly to see if he would change his mind, though it never came. He turned to Echo as though waiting expectantly and Echo nodded with a nervous smile. "I will give you more time to reconsider that option." Night declared. "Just know that the offer is always open, but you only have a week."

"What, I already said—"

"_Can it, Cunningham!"_ the voice screamed_. "Unless you want to die here and now!"_

Gabriel flinched at the thought. Echo promised him escape and, assuming that this 'voice' was Echo's, then he had to at least trust this judgement. "Alright then..." he whispered. He whipped the cigarette stub onto the ground and placed the scarf over his face again as everyone began to boo at him and his decision. Echo and Gabriel decided it be best to simply remain hidden and so proceeded to stalk away slowly in an attempt to avoid any unnecessary attention.

"However!" Night boomed as soon as Gabriel stepped off the stage. "My champion, Echo, will first have to show you the true meaning of our work." At the sound of that declaration, Gabriel and Echo stopped in their tracks and turned to face Night to see what he had decided for their fate. "I figured that you decided against the right thing to do only because we have left a terrible impression on you considering the conditions you lived in for the past week. So now I shall grant you with a little freedom, but only as long as you are with her whom I sense you have bonded rather quickly with."

Echo winced at the sound of Night realizing this 'bond'.  
But otherwise this news made her smile.

"You two will be assigned to the disaster in Japan." Night continued. "That is your mission; use the newly refurbished Chronos Vial on the remaining survivors! And carry out our word to the world!"

"Yes, Tomari-senpai!" Echo cried out, bowed slightly, then turned and pushed Gabriel, who hardly had any time to comprehend what the masked leader had just declared, forward. _"C'mon Dr. Cunningham... we should get out of here before your self-esteem gets entirely obliterated by this booing. It's hurting even my feelings."_

"_So this voice is coming from you, Echo?"_

"_Why of course...! What took you so long to figure out?"_

Gabriel shrugged. _"I'm not sure... but I never knew I was capable of telepathy."_

"_Well you're not... I'm doing all the work and you can only talk to me."_

"_...Why?"_

Echo paused slightly. _"...I think it's the result of what you doctors call the 'Healing Touch'."_

"_WHAT?"_

"_We have a LOT to talk about on our way to Japan, my friend."_ Gabriel didn't need telepathy to listen to Echo's rather loud laughter immediately afterwards. It wasn't one of mockery, but one of joy, and so Gabriel could only chuckle along in an attempt to cast away the confusion.

* * *

A/N: Alright, so thank you DreamVII for beta-reading this! Also to my partner Kix for helping with the difficult writing. Why do I keep holding back that operation...? I guess it's because writing about operations is one of the many things I try to avoid. So next chappy will be CR POV-centric because I want to save writing about something other than my favourite OC Echo and my favourite Trauma Team character Gabe for Chapter 7. Then I'll work on the finale of "Lost Hope" because the inspiration literally smacked me hard. So hard I actually ended up in the hospital.

So can that along with this explain my absence? Lack of internet access is one thing. My vacation to Florida is another. And Kix and I stranded in Florida after that retarded car crash we ended up in the second day into Spring Break is the third.

But this is NOT the place for me to rant out about what happened in my real life. And yes, I'm fine... I mean, I AM still typing right now, aren't I? If you want to know what happened, just ask and I'll give you a semi-detailed explanation on what occurred. I just wanted to ask you about one thing related though.

When an author leaves a story alone for the longest time, people assume they're dead or something.  
So how would you react if the author actually did die *knock on wood*?  
Me? I'd use the Chronos Vial on them... spoiler alert.

So I'll see you all later!  
Oh, and thank you soo much for the reviews last time; they really did help me out while I was in the hospital~! ^^ So you know what to do now, right? See that blue button there? Click it... even if you just wanted to say hi =D All of the support is highly appreciated! =)

* * *

**Lena Hallinger (C) 'Fran'**

**Tomari a.k.a. "Night" (C) PXLight**


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